In the southwest corner of Honduras, hard on the borders of Guatemala and El Salvador, we find the Ocotepeque region. Here mountains are cloud-shrouded, volcanic soils lend their coffee-friendly nutrients, and temperate microclimates coax the best out of the beans.
In Ocotepeque as in the Marcala region, many of the people are of Lenca descent, contemporaries of Classic and Post-Classic Mayan cultures. The Lenca are believed to have migrated to the Honduras/El Salvador area from South America some 3000 years ago. Though their original language has been obscured, they retain many of their pre-Columbian traditions. These include Lenca pottery, a distinctive cultural marker, and agricultural practices handed down over millennia. No surprise, then, that these methods are helping to produce quality coffee in the misty mountains of southwest Honduras.