Finca El Jardín is located in the Ochos de Agua community, Concepción de Soluteca municipality. The farm is managed by a fourth-generation producer – 24-year-old Mario Mejía. He oversees 32 hectares of land situated at 1650 masl, with around one hundred thousand coffee trees. Mario cultivates varieties such as Caturra, Catuai, Pacas, IHCAFE90, Pacamara, as well as several rare exotic varieties soon to be released.

At only 24, Mario took over the farm’s management, launched a specialty coffee program, and earned his agronomy degree. Today, he is a leader introducing local producers to the specialty concept and teaching them the benefits of quality-driven production. Two years ago, he also built a wet mill and began offering processing services to neighboring farmers.

For this particular lot, Caturra and Catuai cherries were carefully hand-picked and sorted. Defects were removed using flotation (immersing cherries in water to separate floaters), and the coffee was fermented in sealed tanks with water. The unique feature of this process is that the tanks were kept fully closed in a dark room for 120 hours, under strict control of both temperature and pressure. The method was developed by Ukrainian coffee professional Anatolii Korostelov, who personally supervised the harvesting, processing, and fermentation. This approach allows for the development of more complex flavor attributes and bright acidity.

An ambitious and detail-oriented producer, Mario prepared for us a remarkable Honduran lot full of vibrancy and uniqueness.