Archival Release #45Miguel Mears Cup of Excellence

To celebrate the first Freezer Friday release of the New Year, we decided to pull something particularly special from our archive: a 2021 Cup of Excellence winning washed pacamara variety coffee from Honduras. Originally purchased as part of a buying group that included our friends Sey Coffee in Brooklyn, we still find ourselves reminiscing on the unique and outstanding quality of this coffee some four years later, and we’re delighted to be able to share it this one last time. This selection comes from Miguel Angel Tabora Mears, a coffee producer from Los Naranjos, within the famous coffee-producing region of Santa Barbara, Honduras. He chose to enter this unique pacamara from his farm in the 2021 Honduras Cup of Excellence competition and was thrilled to achieve 22nd place as a first-time competitor. When cupping through the COE competition sample set in preparation for the auction, Passenger’s green buying team was immediately intrigued by this lot, with its incredibly bright acidity and unusual flavor profile. It is truly unlike any wet processed pacamara we have ever tasted, reminding us more of some of the best parainema variety lots we have tasted from Santa Barbara in years past. On the nose, we find lime peel, black tea, and a sweet aroma reminiscent of apple cider. In the cup, look for juicy layers of bright citrus, molasses-like sweetness, and additional fruity notes of cooked pineapple and raspberry that emerge as the coffee cools.