Honduras Alex Ponce

Region: Marcala, La Paz
Altitude: 1,750 m.a.s.l.
Variety: Pacas, Lempira
Processing: Natural 

Tasting Notes: A standout natural process coffee: clean and complex with tropical fruit, pineapple, fruity hard candy and a syrupy body.

This stunning coffee was grown by Alex Ponce, a farmer who grew up on his father’s coffee farm and later purchased his uncle’s 2.45-hectare farm, Bella Vista, to run as his own.

This is a natural process coffee, which means that the cherries were picked and then dried whole before being hulled and graded for shipment. High quality natural process coffees take more work to produce than washed coffees, so when an excellent one like this comes along it shows the farmer’s commitment to quality. Last year Ponce expanded his drying station to make more raised beds for when the weather is cloudy during harvest. This coffee was dried on those raised beds, and raked every 30 minutes until the required moisture content was achieved. Frequent turning reduces the occurrence of mould and bacteria in the coffee and provides an opportunity for hand sorting for defective and damaged cherries.

The mountainous area hosts several microclimates, which can make coffee production tricky. According to Langdon Coffee Merchants, the importer from whom we purchased this coffee, Ponce can simultaneously have coffee trees in flower, full of ripening cherries and ready for picking all at one time. Thus, his harvest period is extended, lasting from April all the way until September. 

In the last few years the roasters at Steampunk have been working to launch coffees as close as possible to their harvest dates to showcase them at their most vibrant. With this coffee, which landed in the UK in September 2023, we made a small exception. First, because the coffee is just too delicious to pass up. And second, because we want to support the ethical buying practices of Langdon Coffee Merchants and the hard work of Alex Ponce. We’re excited to taste his future harvests, which will include some interesting varieties for the origin, Gesha and SL28.