Colombian Honey Processed

There is a new way to process coffee cherries that is very flavorful!

Normally when after you pick a coffee cherry, for the "Wash' of Wet" process, you removed the pulp of the sweet fruit, and then let the beans soak for 36 hours in water, which removes the mucus film. After the beans are "washed" they are spread out on a patio for drying.

In the "Honey Process", the pulp is remove from the fruit and then the beans are placed on racks and sun dried, leaving on the mucus film, which contains a high concentration of sugar.

When these beans are dry, then they are washed in water and dried again. This process produces a very noticeable sweetness to the roasted bean.

This coffee comes from a group of indigenous farmers who cultivate their coffee in the mountains of southern Colombia, literally at the end of the road, near the Ecuadorian border.

We roast these beans slowly to a medium level, which is optimal for the flavors inside these beans.

Photo:  The Miskito people are very spiritually aware. Our students can name the spirits that control the rice harvest, the fish, the floods, and sickness. They have sukias who interact with these spirits and attempt to manipulate them into doing good things for the people, instead of harming them. There are many rituals that Miskito people do to solve health, crop, and weather problems.

In 1928, a Miskito Moravian pastor named Riker Watson came to the Coco River and started the first school in Wasla. He also was one of the first one to bring  an awareness of Christ to this remote region of Miskitia. Later Catholic pastors came to the river, and Moravian and Catholic churches were planted in most of the villages along the lower Coco River, where our school project is located.

Most of the Miskito people came  to know Jesus, and added him into their realm of spirits, equal to the others. Slowly over the years, Bible classes have been held, pastors trained, and the Christian faith has  grown.

Riker's son Barry is one of my dear fiends. I met him as a pilot on the Honduran side during the war years, when he was flying for a small air service  in  Puerto Lempira. When the war ended, he returned to Waspam where he and his wife Irma started a hotel,"El Piloto", which continues to be the very best place  to stay in Waspam.

Riker lived to be in is 90's, and survived many attempts on his life by Augusto Sandino, who came to the Coco River in the 1930's when he was waging his guerilla war against the Somoza government. According to Barry, Sandino did not appreciate the work in education and religion that Riker Watson was doing.

Note: We recently discovered that we have had the incorrect prices for this very valuable coffee on our webstore! We have made an adjustment to the correct price, which is what has been listed in our Rio Coco Cafe stores.  We are happy to have given all who have ordered this coffee and basement level bargain for our most expensive coffee.  The Honey process takes much more time to get from coffee tree to bodega than washed or natural dry process coffee.