"Upon grounding the dry aroma consist the notes of strawberry, citrus and blackberry. At fist sip, blackberries, candied fruits raisin and mild orange peel. On the aroma, it has a finish of hazelnut, toffee with a touch of toasted almonds."
Liquidambar is a type of tree which a common sight in Honduras, hence there has been quite a number of farm being called Liquidambar. What we have is the coffee from Don Guadalupe Rodriguez, located in Pozo Negro and also a previous winner of CoE 2015 where he was placed at #8. His coffee has since then highly sought by roasters all over the world.
Don Guadalupe has been a pioneer in coffee grower in Pozo Negro, Masaguara. He has devoted his lifetime into agricultural production. He almost gave up his farm in 2014 when the farm was hit with the coffee rust and total drop in production and quality of the coffee. When he participated in the CoE 2015, it have him hope needed to preserve its coffee production. Since then he migrated in producing coffee specifically for Specialty Coffee market and they grow two main variety, Catuai & Lempira.
Liquidambar is located at an altitude of 1740 masl. Catuai grows greatly at that altitude and it does not require much shade during growth and at such altitude, it protects his plantation from pest and borer beetle which are more common at lower altitude.
He made his sacrifice in constructing his own small milling station and also he managed to invest in solar dryer which enabled him to dry his coffee at his farm. Apart from his processing facility, he took great care to ensure good quality production year by year. He is careful in the use of fertilizers and only use when required. Soil is sent to lab twice a year to ensure adequate soil treatment is conducted upon receiving the report. This practice has been going on since 2015 and quality coffee has been produced by the farm year on year.
What we have here is a natural processed coffee. It is important to Don Guadelupe to ensure that only ripe cherries is used during processing. Upon picking, the coffee is sorted and dried in a the solar dryer until it reached the targeted moisture level.
Variety : Red Catuai
Altitude : 1740 masl
Origin : Pozo Negro, Masaguara
Process : Natural