1000 Faces Coffee
Honduras Ismael Hernandez

We’re thrilled to align with Semilla Coffee once again in exploring areas of familiar coffee producing countries that have not historically had access to the specialty coffee market. They’re doing an incredible job building honest, communicative relationships with coffee growing communities and establishing profitable sales channels for them throughout North America. Our desire to continue expanding our purchasing in Honduras synced with Semilla’s, as they visited and made the first purchases from a new group of 12 farmers in the town of Guaspololo this year. For our final Honduran release of the season, we have a very sweet, structured coffee from the leader of this new producer group - Ismael Hernandez. Ismael’s farm, Los Duranzos, is actually positioned just down the road from Jose Antonio Ramirez , along the highest peaks of the Comayagua Mountains. Similar to stories of many coffee producers throughout the area, Ismael inherited a small parcel of land from his parents in the early 2000s. He worked as a day laborer - mostly as a picker on other, larger farms - for the majority of the last decade. Ismael slowly increased coffee production on his own farm throughout this time as well, which has now grown to 1.5 hectares. Though, as is also a very common story in Honduras, the only buyers available have been intermediaries paying prices well below a proper cost of living. Semilla explains the situation well: “While this system of buying did at one time - many decades ago when costs of production and input costs were much lower - work well for producers, for the last ten years at least this type of sales channel has been largely exploitative, never allowing producers an opportunity to earn enough to re-invest in their farms and keeping them at a distance from any meaningful connection with international buyers.” 2022 marks the first year that Ismael’s coffee has been sold directly to an international market and the first year that he was properly compensated for his family’s hard work. We’re excited to play a small part in the chain by roasting and serving Ismael’s coffee for the first time in the US! Our offering from Isamel Hernandez presents a very balanced and comforting flavor profile. Fruit flavors are tethered by a heavy, dessert-like sweetness that reminds us of treats like cinnamon rolls, sticky toffee pudding, and apple butter. This is a perfect all day / every day coffee! We’re tasting: nectarine, clementine, plum, apple butter, baking spices, caramel, toffee, vanilla, almond butter, milk chocolate.