Coffee Spotlight - Feb 2022

Working with inspiring women to achieve the best coffee.
Spotlight on Rossana Zelaya.

Being limited in quantity, Rossana’s coffee is exclusive to our coffee subscription : the Structure Coffee Club, during the months of January and February 2022 or at our coffee shop in Montreal, Canada.

 

For many years now at Stucture Roasters, we’ve been keen on offering coffees from Honduras. Walter Fernandez has been a relationship for a long time (we’ll get to him in a later blog) and we’re always pleased by the character of honduran coffees in general. Today, we’re happy to introduce another producer from the same country : Rossana Zelaya.

Tastes like : Almond, Apple, Honeydew

 

Country :Honduras (El Paraíso)

Elevation : 1300-1400 m

Varieties : Pacas, Catuaí, Maragogipe

Process : Washed

 

FOB paid : 2.55 USD/lb (169% above market price)

 

*Subscriptions offering Rossana's coffee can be found below.

 

Rossana is not only a coffee farmer, she’s una empresaria - an entrepreneur !

 

Raised in a family of strong women in coffee, she runs the business La Patrona with her mother and sisters, whose plantations extend over 15 hectares. Introduced to the coffee culture at her youngest age, Rossana is a pioneer of specialty coffee in her region.

 

A turn to specialty coffee

 

First, she was willing to transform the conventional business of the finca to improve their harvests’ quality. That’s why she turned her interest to the specialty coffee and began planting new varieties on the family land, beginning with a maragogype.

 

Then, she worked to improve drying methods and spread her knowledge all around her to the other producers of the region. She now leads the microlot production at La Patrona but never forgets to work with the pickers to ensure that only the best, ripe cherries are selected.

 

Pursuing delicious coffee

 

Winner of a regional contest in 2014, she has perfected her skills in sensory analysis by getting her Q-Grader certification (we’ll get to this too) in 2017 at the Honduran Institute of Coffee (IHCAFE). Willing to share her knowledge and keep an eye on the quality of the production, there’s now a cupping lab and a roastery close to her farm. Always looking for the best, she is currently working on the transition of the finca to be 100% organic (currently it is already 50%).

 

Today, La Patrona Torefactora is a family business that can be proud to highlight coffee beans from the crop to the cup as they recently opened a coffee shop close to their lands in El Paraiso !

 

As Structure Roasters, we purchase coffees based on character. But furthermore, we'll always align with partners that share our values. Working with Rossana is not only supporting small producers, it’s being part of the development of a better future for the people around her and around us.

Rossana's coffee is featured in the subcriptions below :

 

If you want to know more :

 

IWCA - Alliance of Women in Coffee in Honduras

https://www.cafelapatronahn.com

https://www.instagram.com/tostadurialapatrona1/

https://www.facebook.com/tostaduria.lapatrona/

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