FARMSTEAD - SHADEGROWN - SUN DRIED 

What makes Cafe San Rafael so good?

San Rafael has been the coffee that locals and tourist prefer when they visit Copan Ruinas. There are many reasons for that behind our well-balanced cup of coffee:

• Farmstead Plantation "Estate Coffee"
  Our coffee is grown, harvested, roasted and packed in our farm. Farmstead coffee is never blended with coffee from other farms or producers. Being from a single origin, the whole process is controlled and managed according to our guidelines. The level of quality and excellence in our beans is high and constant, fresh from the farm to you, NO intermediate buyers, importers, or exporters.
• Soil, Altitude and Shade
  Mother nature blessed us with a unique terroir. At an average altitude of 1,200 meters above sea level, our soil is fertile and the coffee plants are able to fully develop their root system. The nitrogen-fixing shade trees enhance the soil, and also provide habitat for birds. The birds in turn provide natural insect control with their constant foraging. This sustainable method of farming uses almost no chemical fertilizers, pesticides or herbicides. 
• Harvesting & Selection
  Beans are hand-picked by trained personnel at optimal ripeness, pulp is removed by "wet mill" and left overnight for a controlled fermentation. Next morning a 2nd selection takes place, using a system of water chanels we are able to separate beans with natural defects (insect bites, poor development of bean, etc) from those in perfect shape. After this, premium beans are sun-dried and properly stored in our facilities awaiting to be roasted. 

• Taste.
  As the coffee beans mature more slowly in the shade, natural sugars increase and enhance the flavor of the coffee.
• Healthier.
  Next to tobacco, coffee is sprayed with more chemicals than any other product consumed by humans. Shade grown coffee is most often organically grown, free of chemical use.
• Promotes healthy environment.
  Shade grown coffee requires little or no chemical fertilizers, pesticides or herbicides. The shade trees filter carbon dioxide which causes global warming, and aid in soil moisture retention which minimizes erosion.
• Provides bird habitat and greater biodiversity.
  Migrating bird populations have been in rapid decline since the introduction of "sun" coffee and the consequent destruction of rainforest for more coffee plantations. As many as 150 species of birds have been identified on shade coffee farms.
• Helps sustain rainforests.
  Coffee plantations which are chemically dependent suffer from soil depletion and increased erosion. Rainforest is stripped to provide fresh growing ground. Shade coffee farms are, for the most part, organic and sustainable. A diversity of shade trees can provide other economic benefits to farmers.
• Reverses the trend to chemicals.
  Shade coffee farms traditionally use little or no chemical fertilizer.