Santa Maria - El Salvador

FLAVOUR NOTES

Cherry / Chocolate / Cardamom Cream

RECOMMENDED BREWING METHODS

Filter / Chemex / Pour Over / French Press / Espresso / Cold Brew

ABOUT THE COFFEE

• COUNTRY: El Salvador
  
• REGION:    Santa Ana Volcanos
  
• FARM:        Santa Maria - Alvarez Family
• VARIETY:    Red Bourbon
  
• ALTITUDE:  1300 MASL
  
• PROCESS:  Natural
  
• ROAST:      Medium Dark
  

This creamy bodied coffee is perfect to beat the cold. We've roasted this coffee to bring out its richness and black forest cake character. We don't normally roast natural processed coffees so darkly, but this one just tasted so good.

ABOUT THE FARM

The Alvarez family combine more than a century of growing experience in the lush Santa Ana region, where the original family estate was divided into two smaller farms – Finca La Reforma and Finca Santa Maria. Rafael Alvarez Lalinde established the original farm in 1892 on the slopes of Santa Ana’s famed Apaneca Ilamatepec Mountain Range. Originally from Colombia, Rafael immigrated to El Salvador with the best seedlings from his homeland; a legacy that has carried his passion for coffee from one generation to the next. Rafael’s descendants own and manage La Reforma and Santa Maria, as well as the El Borbollon mill (established in 1985). An on-site mill is unique in El Salvador; most farms deliver their cherry to external operations for processing. Coffee grown by La Reforma and Santa Maria is handpicked by experienced staff, who collect cherry in traditional weave baskets from December to March. The coffee is then dispatched to El Borbollon for processing. 

ABOUT THE PROCESS

To process this coffee, handpicked cherries are floated, depulped, and dry fermented for 24 hours. The cherry is then slow dried for 16 days on raised beds and clay patios. The latter are a tradition for the region and offer more heat absorbency (endothermic) than concrete. The slow-drying benefits of clay deliver improved consistency and results in the cup.