HONDURAS CATRACHA, MARIO DIONEL VASQUEZ

Single Origin

ROAST  |  Light Roast

PROFILE  | Pear, Honey, and Blackberry

ORIGIN  |  Honduras, Santa Elena Catracha

PROCESS  |  Washed and dried in the sun

GROWER  |  Mario Dionel Vasquez

Mario Dionel Vasquez recently joined the Catracha Project.  Though the trek to his property is easy, the terrain of his property is extreme with the coffee growing an a very steep slope.  This makes harvest and post-harvest work much more difficult.

What is Catracha Coffee Company? Mayra Orellana-Powell founded Catracha Coffee Company to connect her coffee growing community with roasters. Ten years later, Catracha Coffee has gained momentum with more than 80 producers and 20 roasters working together on lasting relationships and a profit sharing model, which has consistently paid at least $2 per pound directly to producers. This extra income helps increase each producer’s capacity to reinvest in their farm, and overtime, increase their standard of living.  

The sale of Catracha Coffee also creates income for a non-profit called Catracha Community (a 501(1)(c)(3) nonprofit), which invests in income diversification opportunities without taking resources from a farmer’s bottomline. 

Catracha Community hosts weekly workshops for women and youth to learn craft making skills.  Like the coffee, the focus is on quality.  With the help of talented volunteers, the group has been able to make many beautiful things and sell them through the Catracha network of coffee friends. They even have a name for the group, Catracha Colectivo.  

Catracha Community has also established an art residence and studio in Santa Elena to host artists from Honduras and around the world.   These artists have been running art classes two days a week for over a year.  Every week more than 30 children come and learn art.  Art is starting to pop up everywhere around Santa Elena.  There are more than 30 murals along the streets of Santa Elena, in people's homes, and at many schools.

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COFFEE BREWING TIP: Achieve the perfect cup with a 1:16 ratio of coffee to water (Or one to two tablespoons of coffee to six ounces of water), adjusting the grind according to your preferred brew method, and getting your water as hot as you can.