Heart & Graft Coffee Roastery: Orlando Medina: Honduras, Finca Los Pinos, Washed

Orlando Medina has being involved in coffee for many years, but it was until 2006 that he started to plant his own farm. In the beginning he started off by growing coffee on one half of a hectare, in the rest of the area that he bought he stopped the tradition of burning it every year, instead Orlando designated this area to be a forest. Together with his family, they replanted forest trees and take great care of the land.

With their dedication of developing earth friendly practices at his plot, they started to plant “live” natural barriers and fruit trees that provide shade to the coffee. His farm has its own agroforestry management plan.

After Orlando became a COMSA member, he absorbed the 5Ms philosophy of the organisation. The COMSA 5Ms philosophy translates from Spanish to English as follows: Materia Orgánica (organic matter), Moleculas vivas (live molecules), Microorganismos de montaña (microorganisms of the mountains), Minerales (minerals) and Materia gris (grey matter, referring to humans potential). He also begun to produce organic compost, bioles and all the biotechnologies that are needed for the production of organic coffee. Likewise, he adopted the experimentation and innovative spirit that is promoted at COMSA to constantly improve the flavours and quality of his coffee beans. Orlando is one of the producers who has experimented doing pre-germinated coffees, which has allowed him to create very unique coffees.