Sweet & Funky - Honduras, Nahun Fernandez

Taste notes: Lemon curd, baking chocolate, biscuit, limey acidity

Nahun Fernández Sabillón manages Finca El Primo in Las Flores, Santa Bárbara, Honduras, situated at around 1,600 metres above sea level (14.9288222, -88.096825). He took over his father’s 20-year-old farm at the age of 16, navigating a two-hour walk to access it. By diligently saving earnings, he purchased his own 2-hectare plot nearby. In 2007, the local mill, San Vicente, recognised the potential of his coffee, and that same year, Nahun earned a Top 20 position in the Honduras Cup of Excellence competition. Working closely with his father and brothers, he shares wet-milling facilities and drying stations, a collaboration that has proved vital to his success in specialty coffee.

Today, Finca El Primo spans 10 hectares, supported by seven permanent workers and up to 20 pickers during harvest. This lot features Catuai, Parainema, and Bourbon, with additional varieties such as Pacas, San Ramón, Geisha, Bourbon Rosado, Caturra, Typica, and Sidra grown elsewhere on the farm. Nahun uses a combination of organic materials—gallinaza, coffee pulp—and chemical fertilisers (including calcium nitrate, Kmag, zinc sulphate, and 12-24-12). Two distinct processes—Honey and Washed—are applied, both requiring meticulous selection, controlled fermentation, and systematic drying on raised beds. Storage takes place first in his on-site warehouse before being transferred to Exportadora de Café San Vicente. Nahun employs a lagoon for wastewater and reports little pest incidence at his high-altitude location, though he routinely applies fungicides for disease management. Whilst he also grows bananas, peaches, and plums, changing climate patterns have complicated harvesting and drying due to increased rainfall and the emergence of diseases such as ‘ojo de gallo.’