Rigoberto Mena, Finca Los Lesquines

A ‘Lesquin’ is a local Honduran tree that feels at home in a fresh & breezy environment.

I have many on my land that provide a gentle layer of protective shade to my plants and that’s why I named my finca after it. In the more than forty years that I have been growing coffee, I had never tried to prepare a micro-lot, I hardly even knew what the term meant. Until Cafesmo taught me how it works and encouraged me to prepare one of my own. And – much to my own surprise – I managed to produce 10 bags of Paca and Catuaí that scored 86 at my first attempt. 

I’m delighted! It fills me with hope and I feel rejuvenated because I am learning many new things after years of routine.  

As a child, I helped my grandfather, who grew thick, six meter high coffee trees (I wouldn’t call them ‘plants’) and my father, who taught me how to milk cows long before I turned ten. But they also encouraged me to finish sixth grade, for which I am thankful until this day, as I learned to read and write, and am able to use the internet to look up coffee prices and other relevant information. Well, that is, when I go into town, where I have a connection, as in my finca and in my home the internet era has yet to make its entrance for lack of coverage!

I love coffee and I owe my life to it. If it weren’t for coffee, I would have died of hunger, I think. There is nothing else in the world I would like to do, and given my age, not much else I could still learn if for some reason I could no longer grow coffee on my farm. 

That’s why I am so relieved that I have now learned how to prepare micro-lots. It opens an entirely new world for me and I can’t wait for the next harvest to try more, and even better. I really feel like back in the days when I was an adolescent: filled with an impatient beat of expectation, hope, and a strong drive to reach for the sky. If I manage to sell my first ‘86’ micro-lot, I will use the proceeds to build my own solar dryer.

Try my coffee, you won’t be disappointed!

Farm facts

A little more than 5 hectares on four plots all between 1.180 and 1.380 meters altitude.

Cultivars are mainly Pacas and Catuaí, and 0,3 hectares of Parainema.

Shade is provided by Lesquin, pepeto and guamo.

There are numerous fruit trees, mostly orange and a somewhat less sour variety of lemon.

All coffees are certified FTO.

This farm is Rain Forest Alliance certified.