Honduras — Mario Mejía Finca El Jardín Pacamara (Washed)

Tastes Like — 🌵 Agave • 🌿 Lemongrass • 🍈 Tomatillo

DETAILS

• Producer: Mario Samuel Mejía
• Farm: Finca El Jardín
• Region: La Paz, Honduras
• Varietal: Pacamara
• Process: Washed
• Elevation: 1,650 masl
• Harvest: March 2026

INTRO
A new partnership this year with Mario Mejía and his crew — a bit of a change-up from other selections in cup profile and flavour. Sharp with a lemony tone and detailed sweet green chile pepper aspects at first, this savoury-sweet coffee is intriguing and versatile. As it cools, an agave-like sweetness emerges with a thicker body and wild berry, herbaceous sweetness. In the cup: agave, lemongrass, and tomatillo.

THE PRODUCER
Mario Samuel Mejía represents a new generation of specialty coffee producers, and is actually one of the youngest producers worked with in Honduras. Combining inherited passion with his profession as an agronomist, he's transformed coffee production into a process of scientific endeavour. At only 26, he took over Finca El Jardín from his father and has managed the farm flawlessly ever since. He began the Specialty Program in his region in January 2019, introducing local producers to specialty coffee, and in 2023 built his own wet mill at the farm, offering the service to other producers in the programme as well.

Pacamara is a compact plant with big cherries, growing best at higher elevations above 1,500m. It's not genetically homogeneous — plants aren't stable from one generation to the next, which can complicate consistency for farmers working from a growing nursery. Genetically part of the Bourbon-Typica family, it's a cross of Maragogipe and Pacas, highly susceptible to coffee leaf rust, but capable of exceptional cup quality.

THE PROCESS
This coffee is handpicked and selected, then de-pulped in the afternoon. It wet-ferments for around 50-70 hours, is washed, and dried on African beds — taking 15-30 days depending on weather, given the region's cold climate and higher elevation.

The extended 50-70 hour wet fermentation is the defining step — it's what builds the sharp, lemony brightness and green chile pepper character up front, while the cooling profile reveals agave sweetness and wild berry depth underneath.

THE CUP
Sharp and savoury-sweet — a lemony tone with detailed green chile pepper aspects up front. As it cools, agave-like sweetness and a thicker body bring wild berry and herbaceous notes to the fore.

Flavour Notes
🌵 Agave 🌿 Lemongrass 🍈 Tomatillo