Benjamin Paz is a cornerstone of Honduran specialty coffee, and we’re not just saying that because he’s a personal friend. A third generation producer with deep roots in both coffee production and exporting, Benjamin began working with the exporting venture, San Vicente, in 2008 and began growing his own coffee four years later. Since those first trees were planted, Benjamin has won the Honduras Cup of Excellence multiple times, including in 2024, when our director and head roaster had the tremendous privilege of celebrating with him in person. 

Away from the cupping table, Ben is an advocate for both environmental stewardship and economic opportunity. On his own farms, he has championed sustainable farming practices and forest conservation initiatives for years. Additionally, through his work with San Vicente, Ben pours a great deal of energy into connecting other local producers to reputable specialty roasters, helping to ensure fair prices for the farmers in his beloved Santa Barbara region.

A couple of years ago, Benjamin was propagating SL28 and Gesha seedlings in a nursery located on the La Salsa property, but they weren't really thriving there. In a last-ditch effort to save the seedlings, Benjamin decided to go ahead and plant all of them together on the same plot of land, rather than taking precious time to separate them by variety first. Other varieties were planted on that plot as well. Thus, when harvest time rolled around, the resultant lot was a true field blend of both Gesha and SL28 cherries, among others. Benjamin affectionately named the lot La Ensalada, and we have had the distinct privilege of purchasing that lot in full for the last two harvests.

Previously, Benjamin processed the whole lot as a washed coffee. But this year, as part of his ongoing experimentation with dark room drying (DRD), Benjamin separated La Ensalada into three equal parts and processed each of them differently. Two of the lots are “controls,” having undergone traditional washed processing and natural processing protocols, respectively. The third underwent Ben’s proprietary DRD processing protocol. We love each of these coffees separately, but ultimately decided you deserved the chance to taste them just as we did: side-by-side.