The Artery Community Roasters - First Crack To The Future
We had to wait for an extra special coffee for our long awaited Michael J. Fox inspired coffee name! Because MJF is Canadian royalty and we consider him to be a prime example of the saying that not all heroes wear capes!
This coffee is a washed anaerobic microlot from Fredy Nahun Vasquez, and it's a really unique coffee with some subtle funky and fruity chocolate flavours and a very sweet citrus note that is just lovely and really exciting in the cup.
As a microlot, Fredy only grows 10 bags of this coffee all year, and we were fortunate enough to connect with Fredy and buy over half them. And we have already committed to buying them all next year!
So I guess we could steal a line from Marty McFly and say: “I guess you guys aren’t ready for that yet. But your kids are gonna love it.” He was clearly talking about this coffee! But we think you'll love it and that your kids probably won't, but they will...in the future.
ORIGIN + VARIETY: MICROLOT - Honduras + Typica
TASTING NOTES: rich and funky chocolate notes + sweet citrus + delicate
ROAST: Light
PRODUCER: Fredy Nahun Vasquez
FARM: Los 3 Pinos (2.5 hectares)
REGION: Selguapa, Comayagua, Honduras
ALTITUDE: 1750 masl
PROCESS: Washed Anaerobic
SIZE: Available in 227g and 340g bags.
GRIND: Whole Bean, Filter, French Press and Espresso/Moka Pot.
More about the producers, Fredy Nahun:
While Fredy Nahun and his family are not new to growing incredible coffee, up until about a year or two ago they, were mainly focusing on selling unprocessed coffees for regional blends. Fredy's more recent first attempt at processing coffee to parchment resulted in a solid coffee, but one that still didn’t manage to break clearly into microlot territory.
Still, this experience gave him the confidence to continue forward with his processing experimentation and this year, he was able to start selling his own coffee as a microlot of superior quality. And it will only get better!
Like so many young growers in Selguapa, Freddy grew up beside his father working the farm though their primary method of sale was to harvest cherry and deliver it to nearby Comayagua for whatever price could be received in the plaza.
Now, it’s Fredy, and his brother Jose, who are pushing their family in a new direction,
encouraging their father to understand the importance of developing durable and resilient relationships with buyers who respect their work and recognize the precarities smallholder growers face.
One of Fredy’s main interests is in cupping and learning more about processes and the impacts they have on a coffee’s flavour profile. Fredy has also taught himself to roast coffee at home so that he can cup his coffee himself and tighten the feedback loop on how each method shows in the cup. A surprisingly high number of farmers never, or rarely, get to drink their own coffee as they don't have roasters!
This type of initiative is so important for smallholders to have as it allows them to actively engage in assessments of their own coffee, and to better advocate for themselves.
When his traditional washed lots failed to stand apart as microlots, Fredy committed himself to extended fermentation in sealed Grainpro bags. This processing led to much deeper and expressive fruit flavours than past crops, without sacrificing the beautiful clarity and expression of the Typica varieties.
This year’s lot marks Fredy Nahun’s first international microlot and serves as yet another example of the importance of investing in smallholders. Our partners at Semilla Coffee invest a lot of time and energy in supporting farmers like Fredy. And the proof is in the pudding, or rather the coffee. We’re all thrilled with the results of Fredy’s coffee this year, and it will only get more incredible.
