Melvin Alonso is a member of the Honduras COMSA cooperative in Marcala, Honduras. He harvests his coffee from December to April, the coolest months of the year in that region. Harvest is completed entirely by hand, and cherries are selected at optimum ripeness.
After harvesting, the fruit is subjected to a process of wet mill. All water used in this step, and coffee waste as pulp, are incorporated into the soil of the farm, following the technical guidelines of organic production received from the team of advisers at COMSA. Finally, the coffee is placed in courtyards where the sun dries it slowly and naturally.
Over the last few years, COMSA has been experimenting with honey processing as well as natural/dry processed coffees, which have rendered excellent cup results when submitted to quality evaluation. This coffee from Melvin Alonso, along with a neighboring microlot from Betty Perez, is an exceptional example of a successful experiment.*
Welcome to my Table, here in the corner of this cafe. Today we’re sipping the Honduras COMSA Melvin Alonso Microlot, from Higher Grounds Trading Company in Traverse City, Michigan. Feel free to pull up a chair.
THEDETAILS
origin: Village Arenales, Santa Maria, La Paz, Honduras
farm: Melvin Alsonso Microlot
producer: Melvin Alonso
association: Honduras COMSA Cooperative
elevation: 1500 meters above sea level
cultivars: Icatu
process: honey
CUPPINGNOTES
The aroma of Melvin Alonso’s coffee is pretty interesting; complex, even. Grassy, lemon zest, green tea, clove, stone fruit, nuts… Some notes that are pretty typical for Hondurans, but a great many that are very atypical (the grassiness, especially).
Wow. This coffee is really something else. It’s a medium-bodied coffee, with a silky mouthfeel and, right out of the gate, it’s presenting my palate with some really unique, complex flavors. Much like it’s aroma, this has a very grassy flavor profile with prominent notes of lemon grass, Sencha tea leaves, jasmine, and mint. Yes – this coffee tastes very green. Beneath those flavors are some really nice notes of honey, almond, melon, plum, and peach. As the cup cools off, its sweeter flavors recede a bit, and those green tea flavors become the focal point again; I’m also detecting the emergence of clove and anise.
*content courtesy of Higher Grounds Trading Company
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Andrew is a husband, father, dog lover, craft beverage enthusiast, content creator, and niche market Internet celebrity. Formerly of A Table in the Corner of the Cafe and The Pulitzer Project and contributor to Barista Magazine and Mental Floss, he’s been writing on the Internet for years.