Parainema
A rust-resistant Honduran hybrid that cups well, which is the part nobody expected.
- Lineage
- Sarchimor line: Timor Hybrid crossed with Villa Sarchi, released by IHCAFE in Honduras
Parainema came out of IHCAFE, Honduras's coffee institute, from the Sarchimor line: Timor Hybrid crossed with Villa Sarchi. It carries resistance to both leaf rust and nematodes, which is why it was bred and distributed.
That pedigree usually comes with an apology. The Timor Hybrid carries robusta in its ancestry, and the Catimor and Sarchimor families built on it have spent decades being the variety you plant to keep the farm alive rather than the one you plant to win anything.
Parainema broke that pattern. It has placed at the top of Honduras Cup of Excellence more than once, beating varieties with far better reputations, and it is now planted deliberately by producers who could grow something else.
The bean is unusually large, which shows up in the roast as a slightly different heat demand than the Catuai or Bourbon next to it in the same lot. Grown high and picked ripe it gives a heavy, sweet cup with stone fruit rather than the flat woodiness the rust-resistant family is known for.
That pedigree usually comes with an apology. The Timor Hybrid carries robusta in its ancestry, and the Catimor and Sarchimor families built on it have spent decades being the variety you plant to keep the farm alive rather than the one you plant to win anything.
Parainema broke that pattern. It has placed at the top of Honduras Cup of Excellence more than once, beating varieties with far better reputations, and it is now planted deliberately by producers who could grow something else.
The bean is unusually large, which shows up in the roast as a slightly different heat demand than the Catuai or Bourbon next to it in the same lot. Grown high and picked ripe it gives a heavy, sweet cup with stone fruit rather than the flat woodiness the rust-resistant family is known for.
