HONDURAS - Elvin Carrillo

This sweet & juicy, honey-process coffee was farmed by Elvin Carrillo in Selguapa, Comayagua, Honduras. It is wonderfully versatile, as drip & espresso. 

This 2024 harvest is Elvin's first time selling to specialty coffee market, which is an incredible accomplishment. 

Learning the trade from his parents, Elvin Carrillo is a third-generation coffee farmer who bought a hectare of land and began growing coffee in 2016. He aspires to expand the size and production output of his farm, with a wish to provide greater opportunities for his four children. Elvin has sent a heartfelt message through Semilla - " Thank you for the support you provide by purchasing and enjoying our coffee. Your choice directly helps families like mine and gives us hope for a better future."

The coffee underwent a honey process, in which the beans remained in the cherries for the first anaerobic fermentation for 40 hours. This stage hugely contributes to the red berry notes this coffee offers. The skin of the cherry fruit was then removed (de-pulped) and the coffee dry fermented for another 35-hours, and then dried on shaded beds for 28 days.  

Honduras has been internationally exploited for its agricultural output over the years (including palm oil, livestock, sugarcane, coffee and bananas).  With the ongoing issue of intermediaries taking a huge cut of the profits, Semilla (our importer) works directly with Elvin Carrillo and other farmers to ensure that investments and profits remain within coffee growing communities. In 2024, Carrillo was paid 7500 lempira per quintal of green coffee, 4000 lempira more than the farmgate price at the time. 

Sadly, like many crops, climate change allows disease to thrive amongst Arabica bean crops. Agronomists in Honduras found that in 2019 nearly 25% of crops were destroyed by coffee leaf rust. Carrillo's farm's high-altitude growth (1700-1750 masl) is promising for the coffee plants sustainability & quality potential.