If you visit Beneficio San Vicente, you know Arturo Paz. He runs the lab, cups every lot that comes through, and, as a multi-time Cup of Excellence finalist, grows some of the best coffee in Honduras.

After years of calibrating our palates to Arturo’s at the cupping table, we finally visited his farm on the north side of Santa Barbara Mountain—a region we knew little about. What we found was stunning: rolling, tree-topped hills like fossilized turtle shells, a coastal breeze despite being nowhere near the ocean, and a meticulously cultivated six-hectare farm growing exceptional coffee.

One standout variety is SL-28, a Kenyan cultivar prized for its dense, jam-like fruit character but rarely seen in Central America due to its difficulty to grow. In this lot, we tasted green apple, blackberry, cherry sorbet, and mango, with a unique creamy, almost lactic mouthfeel.