Carlos Rivera

At the beginning and end of each day, Carlos likes to have a coffee in one of the three cafes he owns with his wife and two children.

His life wasn't always so focused on coffee; Carlos and his family are the third generation of a coffee-growing family, so they decided to start growing coffee themselves.

The couple quickly fell in love with their new way of life, and as often happens when there's a strong connection to what you do or create, both Carlos and his family, as well as their coffee, grew to new heights each year. When they felt ready, they decided it was time to start sharing their love for their beans with their community.

Thus, the first "Café Espresso Latino" coffee shop was born in 2014, with the slogan "WE ARE THE FOOTPRINT OF COFFEE'S AROMA." The name is a thinly veiled nod to Honduras' largest national coffee chain, "Espresso Americano." Although obviously much smaller, "Espresso Latino" serves a much higher quality cup of coffee, with 100% traceability back to each of the Rivera family's coffee plots and varieties.

As a young man, Carlos Rivera Jr., born in 1996, also became involved in the family business, working primarily on drying and processing small batches of carefully harvested beans. Gradually, he learned to prepare balanced and complex micro-batches from unique varieties he selected from his parents' farm.

In 2018, Carlos Jr. won the Gold Award in our region – Ocotepeque – and that's when things took another turn. The anaerobic lot that was cupped in '89 brought some additional fame and solidified the family's reputation as a reliable supplier of excellent coffees.

The time came to open a second Espresso Latino branch, which also provided Soraya, the wife, with the perfect opportunity to further develop her love for all things sweet. She began creating the pastry, breakfast, and lunch menus for both cafes, while Carlos Sr. continued to focus on managing the farms, and his two sons on improving their coffee-making skills with each new harvest.

The quality, of course, doesn't depend solely on Carlos Jr.'s preparation skills. It all starts at the roots, literally: how and where are the coffee plants grown, when exactly are the ripest beans picked and selected, and how are they dried? That's why the family has stable and long-lasting relationships with a group of workers who have been returning every season for about eight to ten years.

They work in better conditions than most in the fields and are valued for their skills. The coffee pickers are invited to Espresso Latino for small tastings. This helps them understand why it's so important to pick only the ripest beans to obtain high-quality microlots, and they also become more enthusiastic about their work when they know—and can taste—the reward their efforts bring.

The pandemic hit the Rivera family hard. The price of coffee on the international market was unbearably low, their two coffee shops had to close for what seemed like endless months, and there appeared to be no end in sight. Until coffee prices began to rise and the coffee shops were allowed to reopen.

In January 2022, the third branch of 'Espresso Latino' opened, and the three cafes now provide stable employment for twelve local staff members. There are also plans for expansion into nearby cities, or even the capital.

And when the 2022 harvest ended (in March), Daniel Horbat, the 2019 World Coffee Tasting Champion, bought two small lots that Carlos Hijo had prepared for his SUMO roastery in Ireland. This will undoubtedly contribute to a bright future for Finca Las El Comedero de Café Espresso Larino and the Rivera family!