Meet the Producer Angel Arturo Paz
In the Spring of 2023 a few of our roasters had the privilege of traveling to Honduras to meet with multiple producers, one of those being Angel Arturo Paz, a third-generation coffee farmer of San Vicente Coffee Exporters. Angel presented many coffees to the team and while all were fantastic, one in particular stood out among the rest - a washed Gesha with notes of floral honey and intense citrus, both sweet and intense.
Now, we have the tremendous opportunity to host Angel here in Kansas City. On Tuesday, April 9th from 10am-12pm, Angel will join us at our Grand location to serve his beautiful washed Gesha to customers at our slow bar and answer any questions his process.
This is an amazing opportunity to come and chat with a world-renowned producer and taste some truly unique coffee.
About Angel
Meeting Angel Paz, it’s hard to immediately tell that he is a world famous and highly sought after coffee professional. He’s quiet and calm, with sparkling eyes that seem more curious than experienced. His energy is youthful, despite the few gray hairs whispering a subtle insight to his wisdom. When he begins to speak about coffee, however, his brow furrows and his gaze deepens as he reaches into his rich experience with a careful determination to find the right words and stories what will accurately convey his perspective. All the while, a humble charm persists within his conversations. The name Paz (English - Peace) certainly fits Angel.
Angel is a third-generation farmer and is very close to his family, including uncles, aunts, cousins, and beyond. Together, the Paz family owns and manages a dry mill and export company in Peña Blanca, Santa Barbara, Honduras called San Vicente Coffee Exporters. We are proud to partner with them for several of the coffees we bring to Kansas City.
In 2012, Angel and his joyful cousin Benjamin, who is also a very famous coffee farmer and exporter, began their own small group of farm plots in a very rural part of Santa Barbara that borders a wildlife preserve. When hiking on the farm you can hear the vigilant mantled howler monkeys, sacred to the region and threatened by deforestation, shouting from trees deep in the forest. The farm opens and closes, weaving through the forest boundaries. Coffee is used in many regions around the world as a buffer crop, serving as a protective rim to the precious forest. Coffee is non-invasive. When a farmer cares for the farm that is along the reserve border, the farmer is also protecting that border, holding the line against so many other flora and fauna looking to invade and take advantage of the delicate ecosystems.
This farm is also very high for Honduras (1630 – 1730m,) cool, and damp. The mountains grab the small amount of moisture the dry Honduran air holds and bundles it into shrouding clouds that hang thick around the deeply green trees. This differentiates this region from most of the rest of Honduras. Honduras is known for being one of the dryer countries in Central America, especially during the dry season. This area remains lush and stands in stark contrast to the rest of the terrain with its ranges of green hues.
The region of Santa Barbara was not always known for high quality coffee. In fact, quite the opposite was true. The Paz family has invested heavily in finding the right variety of coffee for the right microclimate. Santa Barbara is a central region. It boasts the largest freshwater lake in Honduras. The Santa Barbara Mountain rises directly from the lake and is dotted with coffee farms along its slopes. Most of these farms have delivered their coffee to commercial sources for immediate cash. The Paz family began to spend time in the region discovering farms that had incredible potential.
What does it mean for a farm to have potential? There are a few things that need to be in place for coffee to reach a high level of quality. Some of these may be more obvious than others, like climate, soil composition, angle toward the sun, and things like this – luck of location. However, along with the luck factors come hard work. A farm needs a manager who is invested in quality, who will put in the hard work required and dedication that it takes to wrangle a diamond from the dirt. In communities where farmers have been doing their work a certain way for generations, these kinds of changes can be hard to sway a farmer to make, despite the potential upside of much higher payments for their coffee. Promises of high reward for the high risk of variety conversions seem like pie in the sky promises. This kind of a quality movement takes time and trust.
The Paz family has put in that time and established that trust. Creating ideal farms that show the fullest potential that coffee can achieve in the region is part of this mission. By creating a world class coffee on his own farm with his own hands and investment, Angel has proven to so many anxious farmers that Honduras, no… Santa Barbara, Honduras can stand high and proud amongst the world’s most incredible coffee regions. He has also learned what it takes to take hopes and turn them into reality and can gently, humbly, yet capably guide those farmers who want to jump into the Specialty Coffee pool to do so with confidence and support.
San Vicente Export Company is also there to support these farms during transitions. They don’t only export the top grades but work with varied coffee styles and grades. They provide farmers with access to the coffee market, help them with input support like fertilizers and advice, and grade the coffee in ways that help each lot earn its highest potential payment.
To achieve the pinnacle of coffee excellence in Honduras, Angel has invested in some of the rarest and stories varieties of coffee. He has divided his farm into plots, each cultivating a different variety, including Pacas, Pacamara, Bourbon, Maragogype, and among many others is a special plot of Gesha.
Angel’s Gesha is exquisite. It is a true gem and achievement. We are filled with gratitude to be counted among the few roasters around the world that Angel has offered his most prized coffee to - floral honey, intense citrus, sweet and intense. If flavors are like colors, then this coffee is the rainbow, and vibrantly visible.
