Marel Mena & Family, Finca Los Cipreses

For us, growing coffee means seeking sustainable income, solidarity, passion, but above all fun…

There is around a dozen of us, between parents, children, uncles, nephews and nieces and we all live near one another in a hamlet in the hills. It’s a hidden gem, like a private paradise, where we have enough water, generous sunshine, cool nights and abundant fruits.

Our fincas are filled with trees for shadow that also bear fruit, like bananas, plantains, a large variety of citrus, and even passion fruit. 

Years ago, when we started, we had no electricity, no running water, no roads even, so we had to transport our harvest on mules. But little by little, we saw to it that nine communities on the hills surrounding our valley were connected to the grid, and then to the water system as well.

One of us started to process a micro lot some years ago, while the others were skeptical. It took a lot of effort, additional work, and also included a risk because we had no experience in the preparation of specialty coffee. But then, the one who had offered his micro-lot, received like twice or thrice as much money as the rest of us, and a note of honor too. 

So, now we are all dedicated to improving techniques, processing our coffee for micro-lots, and offering a wide variety of options to roasters abroad. Our coffee is grown with the perfect combination of expertise, tradition, dedication and patience. Really, you should try one of our samples, and you won’t be disappointed!

Farm facts

Between all of us, we cultivate 37 hectares of land and it’s all located between 1200 and 1400 meters.

When we first started, we only grew Paca, but now we also have Parainema, Obata, Catimor, Catuaí, and Lempira. All of these are great coffees to process into micro-lots.

We use solar dryers but also dry coffees on patios. Thanks to joining CAFESMO, we were able to obtain Fair Trade Organic certification for our fincas. Most of our family members offer micro-lots as well.

This farm is Rain Forest Alliance certified.