December Farmer Updates from Don Lencho
Coffee harvest is still going strong in Honduras, here is a brief update from them along with a few pictures.
The story is told of the king of Spain asking one of his subjects for a report of the land of Central America. That person waited to reply until taking a piece of paper and crumpling it in the king´s presence. Presenting the crumpled remains, he said: “This, Your Majesty, is what the New World looks like”.
Traveling into the mountainous interior of Honduras where Don Lencho coffee is produced, a person is reminded of those words. The roads wind and turn, up and down—sometimes presenting formidable switchbacks that lead by yawning chasms; other times over bridges that span gushing rivers; and always, always, curves and more curves for the weary travelers. The mountains—silent and unmovable—bear a part, from beginning to end, in the way we process your coffee.
Starting at the farm, pickers are expected to carry the cherries they have gathered to a central location where the owner can measure what has been picked. Many times, this means heaving the heavy sacks uphill. From there, the cherries are carried by sack to the wet mill operation, which significantly reduces their weight and volume.
Sacked again, the still wet coffee beans might be carried by mule back or by truck to the central drying processing plant. Either way, it is up and down and around a myriad of curves. Finally, after being dried and sacked, the parchment beans are temporarily stored in our village, then loaded again on a truck to be hauled out to the exporter several hours away.
Even though transportation becomes a challenge with our terrain, the simple fact that coffee is so compact and valuable makes it a profitable enterprise for us. We hope to stay in business, carrying by back, by mule and by truck that daily cup of coffee you enjoy every morning.
