Alba Rosa Claros

Finca El Liquidámbar
Barrio La Victoria, Marcla, La Paz
Honduras

“As producers, we are contributing to the environment. This is why we are producing high quality, organic coffee.” Alba Rosa Claros.

Alba Rosa is an enterprising woman who grew up among coffee trees. Her parents were also coffee producers, and from a young age she fell in love with coffee culture.

"I started growing coffee from a very young age. Then in 2011 I joined COMSA, and it was there where I began to learn more about organic agriculture."

"From the moment I joined COMSA, we have achieved quite a history, having learned about COMSA's philosophy of "5Ms"  and above all " La Finca Humana" (Human farm), a concept that has become fundamental to our family life. Thanks to that we can now produce our own fertilizer, with beneficial microorganisms, rock flour and organic nutrients."

"As a family, we are very happy to be part of the COMSA enterprise. It's because of COMSA that we have learned about special processing for differentiated, high quality coffees. As a woman and as a producer, I continue learning new things."

When speaking about her coffee process, Alba Rosa notes that "honey coffee involves a very slow process that requires a lot of patience, but with it, we are able to maximize the coffee's quality potential. We do it with a lot of passion, thinking about the final consumer who will be tasting our coffee".

She has developed her coffee knowledge with every coffee harvest, and is increasingly interested in learning more about the different coffee varieties and their characteristics. She has participated in COMSA's Diplomado Orgánico as well as other workshops and conferences. It was after these workshops that she assumed the challenge of improving her coffee's quality through Honey and Natural processes.

One of Alba Rosa's goals as a producer is to achieve a better quality year after year, which is why she is invlolved in all the processes at the farm, from adding compost on every single plant, to harvesting cherries in order to ensure the process is done correctly, not stressing the coffee plant.

“I am excited to be able to create a special product for the final consumers of my coffee, that every single act on my coffee, from harvest to drying, has maximized its quality potential."

Importantly, Alba Rosa manages to hold on to many of the lessons learned from COMSA's workshops. It is thanks to her acquired knowledge that  she can now assume new challenges and implement techniques or processses that improve her quality.

Honey Process: Harvest is conducted once the coffee cherry achieves its optimal ripeness. After a manual cherry selection, the coffee is floated in water barrels for 48 hours, allowing for a slight fermentation of the cherry in cool water and to float out any less-dense, under-developed beans. Later the coffee is de-pulped in a water-free depulper, making for a more environmentally friendly process. The depulped coffee is finally trasnferred to a solar dryer. For the first few days of drying, the coffee is turned every 15 to 20 minutes. As the moisture goes down, turning is done at less frequent intervals. Overall, drying may last up to 21 days, depending on weather.

Information courtesy of Café Orgánico Marcala, S.A.