Leonel Chavez Parainema

About This Coffee
This offering from our friend, Leonel Chavez, is our final offering from his farm for the year, and we’re going out with a bang! This varietal, Parainema, is a great option for farmers as it combines great disease resistance with high-yield and excellent cup quality. Lucky for us, that means we can count on a Parainema offering from Leonel next year, too!

The Parainema varietal typically displays a rich sweetness, with an unctuous, syrupy body. Oftentimes, there will also be citrusy acidity and tropical fruit notes. The body and sweetness inherent in this variety make it a wonderful candidate for Honey Processing, which typically adds a pleasant amount of brightness to the cup that should only add to the balance and complexity of this coffee!

As our team tasted this coffee on the cupping table and in filter brews, we were struck by the combination of sugary-sweetness and delightful acidity. Upon first sip, it is bright and tart, like a green apple, or like the burst of a cherry tomato that you just picked off the vine. It coats your mouth, but it is quickly balanced out as the sweetness comes forward. Think butterscotch or molasses. It is thick and sugary, in perfect balance with the acidity. This marriage of sweet and sour is delicious! We’re so excited to share it with you and hope you are as delighted by it as we are!

About Honey Processing
The Honey Process, surprisingly, does not involve honey. Instead, it is describing the flesh of the fruit that clings to the coffee cherry seed after it has gone through the de-pulping process, which is very sticky like honey (hence the name). Instead of immediately washing this leftover fruit off, like in the Washed Process, the farmer allows the seeds to sit with this residue for a few days. This allows for some fermentation to occur, infusing the seed with the flavors of the fruit itself. This leftover fruit dries out and then is washed off before the seeds are fully dried, packed, and shipped all the way up to us!

Relationship Coffees
East Pole's vision is to collaborate as much as possible with coffee farmers one-on-one, getting to know them personally and buying as much of their crop as possible to form lasting relationships with them and directly investing into the improvement of their farms. We enjoy working with Leonel and will be buying, roasting and sharing his fantastic coffees with you for years to come.