April 2024 - Are Hybrids the Future?

April 2024’s Coffee Origin
Honduras - Marco Tulio Sabillion - Micro Lot - Parainema - Honey

HONDURAS - MARCO TULIO SABILLON - MICRO LOT - HONEY
Region: Santa Barbara, Honduras
Varietals: Parainema
Growing Elevation: 4400+ feet
Harvest: November through March
Process: Honey, Patio Drying
Flavour Profile and Notes: GO CUP YOURSELF and find out!

This Month's Coffee Selection
I've been noticing several "new to me" Varietals in recent offerings.
It's time we took notice and Cupped another one! 
This month's coffee comes from Santa Barbara, Honduras, an area known for and economically dependant on local crafts and coffee production. 

The producers of this coffee, Marco Tullio Sabillon and his brother purchased a small fam and began growing coffee in 2006.  Learning the ins-and-outs of coffee production for over a decade, the brothers began planting lots of specialty grade coffee. Their first crop reaching a grading of over 80 points (specialty) was in 2018 and they have continued to produce year after year. The brothers do the majority of the work on the farm occasionally hiring help to harvest and maintain the crops. Their success in producing specialty coffee is a testament to their hard work and continuous efforts to improve their farm.

What is Parainema and Why Does It Matter?
If you recall, last month we cupped a Castillo Varietal (a hybrid of Caturra and Timor) from Colombia.  This month we are cupping a Parainema Varietal from Honduras. Parainema is created through the selective breeding of two Sarchimor Varietals.  Sarchimors are in turn hybrids of Timor and Villa Sarchi (of the Bourbon family). These selections are in response to Coffee Leaf Rust, which can devastate coffee harvests. The resulting plants are resistant to Coffee Leaf Rust and adapted to medium altitudes. This allows Parainema Varietals to be grown in easier to farm locations while maintaining coffee yields as well as quality. It appears that for the literal and figurative health of the coffee industry, hybrids are a the future.    

Roaster’s Notes:
This coffee seems to take more heat than the other Honduran offerings we currently have in the shop.  Our guess is a combination of moisture level, Varietal characteristics, drying and milling process and possibly the recent solar eclipse, regardless, it was just an observation.  A second and more noticable observation is the shape of the bean. This month's coffee appears to be elongated or a prolate spheroid (I'm just writing that to look smart, i really just looked up football shape).  If you have any other coffee at home, compare it side by side and you should be able to notice the shape difference fairly easily.  

By request, this month we went a little lighter than the previous month's to allow our cuppers to experience the coffee closer to the roast level we initially cupped at. It is still technically a medium roast, just a bit less into second crack than usual. The result is still a smooth, well balanced everyday cup, just a little "brighter".

While cupping this month look for hints of Lime/Citrus, Jammy notes, followed by …wait a minute, if you want cupping notes Go Cup Yourself!

Once you have finished Cupping, click on the “EXPERT TASTED” tab for our tasting notes. Can’t wait to compare notes.

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