TIM WENDELBOE - Caballero Catuai - Honduras - Washed - Catuai

Tasting Notes: Herbal, dark chocolate & dried fruits
Origin: Chinacla, La Paz, Honduras
Producer: Marysabel Caballero & Moises Herrera
Process: Washed
Varieties: Catuai
Roast Profile: Light Roast
Roast Date: June 19, 2024

Tim Wendelboe Coffee Roasters is located in Oslo, Norway

From Tim Wendelboe

The majority of the Caballero’s farms are planted with the Catuaí cultivar which used to be the most commonly grown cultivar in their area. Expect a rich and chocolaty coffee with subtle flavours of dried fruits and nuts with a herbal finish.

Marysabel and Moises produce a lot of the Catuaí cultivar, but not all lots are produced the same way. Some are dried on patios and others in mechanical driers or on raised beds under shade. Since I started buying coffee from the Caballeros, I have gradually developed a protocol in cooperation with Moises and Marysabel on how to separate, process and especially dry and store the coffees we buy from them.  They are now producing a lot of Catuaí coffees following these protocols that is especially separated  for us to choose from.

 All the lots we buy are dried on raised beds in shade and are hand sorted and milled with extreme care and attention. It really makes a difference in the final cup. In fact Moises was the one who let me experiment with shade dried coffee in the first place and we found that the green coffee will stay fresh for a longer time and taste much cleaner than the patio or mechanically dried coffees they produce. ( In later years the Caballeros have adapted some of these principles and by that managed to increase the quality and shelf life of their mechanically dried coffees too.)

Meet the Caballeros

Marysabel Caballero is 3rd generation coffee farmer and together with her husband Moises Herrera they now own over 150 hectares of land planted with coffee near the town Marcala, Honduras. Marysabel’s father don Fabio Caballero is by many regarded as one of the pioneers among high quality coffee producers in Honduras. Together the family run a big wet mill where all of their coffees are processed and dried.

Both Fabio, Moises and Marysabel have consistently been producing some of the best coffees Honduras has to offer. For over a decade they have been winning many top places in the Honduras Cup of Excellence. In 2016 and 2018 they managed to win 1st place with their Geisha coffees, but their first recognition was in the first Cup of Excellence competition in Honduras in 2004 when they won 2nd to 5th place with their Catuaí coffees.