Microlot 20 - Irma Garcia +

Irma Garcia is a smallholder farmer that made the decision to start growing coffee in 2012 after seeing the successes her friends and family had in the coffee farming business! The 2015-2016 harvest saw her harvesting her first coffee cherries. The following harvest, she joined COMSA and began to turn in her coffee cherries at the central wet processing facility. It wasn't until 2018, with the support of COMSA and trainers, that she learned how to process coffees on her farm. She found that she enjoyed doing it herself because of the added value to production. She also realized that turning in coffee cherry to the wet mill was more expensive as she would incur the transportation costs between her farm and the mill. 

At COMSA they have learned that producing coffee is not about quantity, but about quality. They have also learned the importance of producing responsibly to generate an income, but not at the expense of the environment. Irma has a farm where she can earn money, but also recharge - her own sanctuary. Prior to farming coffee she would just go to work and go home. Now she goes to her farm to just breathe fresh air. Her most important farming tool – farm with love!

At Finca El Suyapal, harvesting is conducted according to the requirements set by COMSA , selecting solely cherries that are ripe and ensuring that no green, dry, damaged or over-ripe cherries have made it into the batch. Once harvested, the cherries are floated in water barrels to remove less-dense damaged beans. Floating the cherries also helps to hydrolyze the cherries. The coffee then proceeds to the depulper. Once depulped, it is piled in a fermentation tank. After 12-24 hours, the fermented coffee is washed with fresh water to be then dried on a raised bed solar drier for 10-15 days.

We are so happy to have Irma’s coffee as our last Honduran microlot of the season. Grab a bag today before it is all gone!