Geovany Martínez

Farmers: Geobany Martínez , Ilia Martínez & Lenyn Martínez

Farm: The Montaña Verde Farm 

Variety: IHCAFE 90

Tasting Notes: Red berries, apple, Brandy, grapefruit, chocolate, caramel and lemongrass

Score: 85

Process: Washed

Country: Honduras

Area: Congolón Sierra, near the border with El Salvador

Certification: Organic, Fair Trade

Altitude:  1,250 - 1,600 MASL

Geovany Martínez is a third-generation coffee producer from western Honduras, growing coffee on the slopes of the Congolón Sierra, not far from the border of El Salvador.

Coffee at Finca Montaña Verde is very much a family operation. Geovany runs the farm alongside his mum, Ilia, and his brother, Lenyn, continuing a family connection to coffee that now spans three generations.

Together they manage 15 hectares across Gualcinse and Piraera in the Lempira region, with coffee growing between 1,250 and 1,600 metres above sea level. It’s a pretty special growing environment - around 90% of the farm sits beneath the shade of pine trees, helping protect the coffee plants and maintain a balanced ecosystem.

Across the farm they grow Parainema, IHCAFE 90, Lempira, Maragogype and Yellow Catuai, with Montaña Verde also holding both Organic and Fair Trade certification.

But what we really like about Geovany’s approach is that he isn’t interested in simply continuing to grow coffee because that’s what his family has always done.

He wants to make it better.

With labour becoming harder and more expensive to find, and changing weather creating new challenges for producers, Geovany’s focus is on improving both quality and productivity rather than simply producing more coffee. By understanding the different areas of the farm and treating each plot accordingly, he’s working towards producing higher-quality lots that can earn more for the farm and allow them to better support the people working alongside them.

Ultimately, Geovany wants the coffee grown at Montaña Verde to end up with people who actually value where it came from and the work that went into producing it.

Which, really, is exactly why we love buying coffees like this.

Good coffee doesn’t need to be complicated. But there are a lot of people, decisions and years of work behind making it good - and Geovany and his family are a pretty great example of that.

How do we know all this?

Because of our relationship with Nicole and Justin from Mountain Journey Coffee.

Nicole and Justin started Mountain Journey to bring together their love of coffee, Nicole’s family history and their connection to Port Macquarie, creating a link between coffee producers like Geovany and roasters like us here at Moon Boy.

We’re extremely lucky to have met them and built the relationship we have. Through Mountain Journey, we’re able to know so much more about the coffees we buy - not just the country, variety or process written on the bag, but who grew it, where it was grown, how the farm operates and what the people behind it are working towards.

For us, that’s a huge advantage. It means we can make better decisions about the coffees we buy and, more importantly, pass those stories on to you.

There’s a pretty long journey between a coffee tree in Honduras and a cup of coffee in Port Macquarie. Knowing more about the people along that journey makes us care about it a whole lot more.