The fine folks at Saint Frank, one of San Francisco’s most exciting new coffee bars, will soon be playing host to Honduran coffee producer Benjamin Paz, from the famed Beneficio San Vicente. The event happens Friday, January 17thย at 6pm, in the gorgeous confines of Saint Frank’s Russian Hill cafe.
Benjamin Paz is a major force in the developing world of Honduran speciality coffee. Coffees associated with his Beneficio San Vicente have taken first place at the prestigious Cup of Excellenceย no fewer than five times. It’s also an exciting turn of events for Saint Frank, whose owner, Kevin Bohlin, has traveled extensively in Honduras, and whose professional identity is closely aligned with coffees from this part of the world, especially given Mr. Bohlin’s previous experience competing at regional and national coffee competitions using Honduran coffees.
To hear more about the upcoming event and how it all came about, we reached out for our own interview with Mr. Bohlin at Saint Frank.
Will this be the very first event for Saint Frank?
This is our first event with many more to come. We host public cuppings regularly but this is the first time to host our friends and neighbors outside of our typical service at Saint Frank.
You’ve had a storied history with Benjamin Paz… when did you meet?
I first met Benjamin during the 2011 Competition season when I traveled to Honduras to visit the farm of my coffee with Ritual Coffee Roasters, La Piรฑona. I knew the first time I met him that we would be great friends and that there was real connection and future for me at Beneficio San Vicente. Benjamin lived with me this past summer and fall helping Saint Frank get off the ground. We are both headed back to Honduras next week, it will be my fourth visit with my fifth in March again.
Are you serving coffee from BSV now?
We are currently still serving our Good Food Awardsย Finalist coffee Finca Las Nieves both on espresso and filter. This coffee is so special and I’m really excited to visit next week and the brothers Milton and Alexi that grow it. We are preparing their coffees separately this year so they each get their own coffee. We had a blend of BSV microlot coffees in our Little Brother Espresso blend up until a week ago, but sadly that delicious coffee is finished until the next crop arrives later this year.
Do you hope to have these kinds of events regularly?
We definitely want to host more events to tconnect our customers and community to people and stories behind the coffee. We are also beginning our regular home coffee and espresso classes this month. My vision always included a strong educational stream but always connection, so the more we can do the better.
There will be some beer and a special limited availability for a Las Nieves Old Fashioned Cocktail after the presentation. Jepy [designer John Ermacoff, recently profiled on Sprudge] will also be there to answer questions about his under-counter machine with a special chance to take a look and pull shots on it.
“Coffee In Honduras” begins at 6PM at Saint Frank (2340 Polk St)ย in San Francisco’s Russian Hill neighborhood. RSVP on Facebook here.
