Every harvest tells a story.
Some are defined by the weather. Others by extraordinary coffees. But the most meaningful harvests are measured by something less obvious: the relationships that make them possible.
Long before Tectonic Coffee existed, I was already roasting coffees produced by Moisés Herrera and Marysabel Caballero. I first worked with their coffees in 2007 while roasting at Intelligentsia Coffee, drawn to the remarkable quality and consistency they were producing from the mountains of Honduras.
In 2010, while serving on the International Jury for the Honduras Cup of Excellence, I finally met Moisés and Marysabel in person. What began as admiration for their coffee quickly became a genuine friendship built on mutual respect, shared values, and a belief that great coffee starts with great people.
That same year I moved to Toby's Estate Coffee in Brooklyn, and one of my first priorities was continuing to source coffees from Moisés and Marysabel. From 2010 through 2015, their coffees remained part of my roasting journey because relationships like this aren't something you leave behind when you change jobs—they're something you carry forward.
When I founded Tectonic Coffee in 2016, bringing their coffees with me wasn't a business decision as much as it was the natural continuation of a relationship that had already been years in the making.
Over nearly two decades we've watched seasons change, children grow into adults, markets rise and fall, coffee leaf rust challenge producers, freight costs surge, fertilizer prices climb, and labour shortages reshape coffee farming across Honduras. Through every challenge, the conversations never stopped. We kept learning together.
That is what direct trade should be.
Not simply paying a better price. Not simply visiting origin. But building relationships strong enough to weather difficult seasons and celebrate extraordinary ones together.
This year those journeys arrive at two meaningful milestones. Tectonic Coffee celebrates ten years since opening our doors, while Moisés and Marysabel celebrate thirty years of farming and refining their craft.
Rather than marking those anniversaries with a single coffee, we chose two very special coffees.
Our Washed Geisha is for the purists, a coffee that celebrates precision, patience, and the quiet confidence that comes from mastering a traditional process. In Moisés’ words, the washed Geisha is “something special” in the best possible sense: carefully picked, processed, washed, and dried on beds so the coffee can speak clearly for itself.
Our Mora (Wild Blackberry) Co-Ferment is for the curious.
For this coffee, Moisés prepared a fermentation solution using mora, the local name for wild blackberry, along with brown sugar and water. For every 100 pounds of Geisha, he used 10 pounds of wild berries, one pound of brown sugar, and 20 liters of water. The berries were mashed, mixed with the sugar and water, and left to rest for 72 hours before the solution was added to the coffee.
The lot we selected was the washed mora version. Instead of adding the solution to whole coffee cherries, Moisés applied the mora fermentation to pulped Geisha in wet parchment with mucilage, then rested the coffee with the solution for another 72 hours.
What makes the story special isn’t only the method. It’s the mindset behind it.
Moisés explained that people had been talking about co-ferments for several years, and he had thought that maybe one day he would try one. But for a farm the size of theirs, a process like this demands time, focus, and attention to very small details. When the idea finally came up in conversation with us, he decided to approach it not exactly like work, but like a hobby: something done from curiosity, care, and the simple desire to learn something new.
After thirty years in coffee, that willingness still matters.
It says something about Moisés that his first response to a new process was not to chase a trend, but to ask questions. He spoke with his son Esre, who connected him with younger producers and friends familiar with this style of processing, including people working with similar methods in Colombia. From there, Moisés adapted the idea to what was available in his own region: mora, the wild berry in season around the farm.
That, to us, is the beauty of this release.
One coffee shows the confidence to leave a great Geisha alone.
The other shows the humility to keep learning, even after three decades of experience.
Together, these coffees represent more than two different processing styles. They represent a relationship built over many harvests, one that continues to evolve while remaining grounded in trust, respect, and a shared pursuit of excellence.
Here's to thirty years of dedication from Moisés and Marysabel.
Here's to ten years of Tectonic Coffee.
And here's to the relationships that make every harvest worth celebrating.