Don Donaldo Benitez planted his first nursery and farm in the village of Agua Fria in El Remolino with seeds he brought from Corquin in the Copan department in 1988. With his wife Doña Bernadina and their 8 children Donaldo has grown the production to include three farms of 7 hectares each, El Tire, El Izote, and Los Laureles. Across the three properties the Benitez family grows Bourbon, Catuai, and Pacas.
The coffee is planted under the shade of Inga, pine, oak, banana, citrus, peach, and avocado trees. Coffee is hand picked and transferred the same day to the depluping station, where it is washed and fermented for 12-16 hours. The coffee is washed with clean water to remove any mucilage and dried on patios and African beds for an average of 8 days.
It was through the Bon Café, SA specialty coffee program that the Benitez’ first learned their coffee was of unique and noteworthy quality. The remote Lempira department is characterized by a drier, Pacific-influenced climate and was named for the famous Lempira warrior who rebelled against the colonizing Spaniards.