prdocucer stories
Juan Carlos Vasquez
Finca Los Primos, Santa Bárbara, Honduras (1,500m)
At dawn in the mountains of Santa Bárbara, Juan Carlos Vásquez walks through rows of Parainema trees with the quiet determination of someone who understands that great coffee begins with intention. This is his second harvest at Finca Los Primos, but already his approach sets him apart—every decision guided by a commitment to organic practices and ethical farming that runs deeper than profit margins.
Juan Carlos didn't inherit vast lands or generations of coffee wisdom. What he brought to these mountains was something rarer: genuine humility and an unwavering belief that coffee should honor both the land and the people who tend it. His natural processing method isn't just technique—it's philosophy. By allowing the beans to dry naturally under the Honduran sun, he creates those distinctive notes of cocoa, vanilla, and raisins that make Santa Barbara Soul so memorable.
"Coffee is patient work," Juan Carlos often says, watching over his drying patios with the care of someone who knows that rushing ruins everything beautiful. His commitment to organic methods means longer nights, harder work, and smaller yields—but also coffee that tastes like the mountain air itself: clean, honest, and full of life.
Every bag of Santa Barbara Soul carries Juan Carlos's quiet revolution—proof that exceptional coffee comes not from shortcuts, but from a producer who believes that what we put into the world should make it a little better than we found it.