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I recently found another place to dry process our coffee - to thresh it from the parchment and machine-sort it to remove more of the defects. This is the step that we haven't been able to do in the Siguatepeque area, as there are no businesses that offer it to this extent as a custom service to others. The Xinacla special coffee processing facility is located about 2 1/2 hours from the Rugged Mountain Coffee farm, right in the midst of a huge coffee farm that specializes in micro-lots of specialty coffee, marketed by Passion Coffee.   COFFEE THRESHER This machine...

Last week I went with some friends to a crash course on cupping coffee. Cupping is the art of observing aroma and taste in coffee.  It is done in a lab using defined parameters to compare each coffee.  We had a great time smelling and tasting coffee, but I think it would take me the normal 2-year schooling process to refine my taste buds and sense of smell to be able to detect all the different nuances of scent and flavor. The main benefit that I was hoping to receive was a greater awareness of the many things that can...

We are excited to be adding a new product to our inventory!  Look for Rugged Mountain Coffee Morning Splendeur in the next few days.  We have purchased an excellent coffee from a farm across the Sigua valley.  Similar variety of plants, yet a very distinct flavor difference from the coffee produced on our farm - now the Rugged Mountain Coffee Original.  

Back again after a long silence!  The harvest is past, and the coffee has bloomed a number of times already.  The harvest this year was about 40% of the previous year's quantity.  We had experienced a hard dry season, then rainy season began, but only with a few rains, and the whole region experienced a drought. Most of the crop farmers lost their spring planting.  The coffee production was much lower for many also.     But this year's outlook is much brighter.  We've had a few good rains at key times in the flowering cycle, and the plants are...

A couple weeks ago I requested a quote from our exporter for another shipment, only to find out that Honduran export laws had changed and we were no longer able to ship under the same status as before.  After a few weeks of investigation and paperwork, we now have an official business entity in Honduras with a possibility of expanding our exporting capabilities.   Last week I went to IHCAFE, the Honduran Coffee Institute responsible for the coffee industry, to request the new Special Export Permit for small exports.  In the process of the paperwork, Mr Fernandez informed me that...