El Salvador Los Cipreses Honey

About El Salvador Los Cipreses Honey

Arrived August 2021 in Grainpro.  Looking out from the Los Cipreses farm, the cone of the Chingo Volcano rises up out of the flourishing landscape. Pacas, Yellow and red bourbon coffee trees grow in the rich clay soil, providing a home for creatures like rabbits and hummingbirds. The Contreras family has been growing here for 5 generations, collecting almost 100 years of family coffee experience. Our importer partners closely with farmer-owner Rene Contreras, who has worked hard to bring his coffee up to specialty quality. Rene and his family are deeply invested in their community his wife is a doctor who provides health care locally, and the family operates an animal sanctuary on the farm, taking in stray and neglected animals.

The 30-hectare farm is only 93km from the capital city of San Salvador, outside the smaller city of Santa Ana. The mill employs 30 men year-round, then up to 150 men and women during the peak harvest season. This coffee has limited availability every year, and with our direct, person-to-person approach, it will continue to exceed expectations.

El Salvador is 19th in the world as a coffee exporter, and exports 700,000 bags annually. Other major agricultural exports include sugar, corn, beans, and rice. Santa Ana is the capital city of the coffee rich department of Santa Ana in western El Salvador. Santa Ana is home to one of the largest coffee mills in the world (El Molino).

This lot is Bourbon and Pacas, a high yielding mutation of the Bourbon varietal (the original Arabica of the Americas). Pacas was discovered in 1956 by Salvadoran producers Don Alberto Pacas, for whom it was named, and Don Francisco De Sola along with the help of Dr. William Cogwill of the University of Florida.

• Farm: Los Cipreses
• Owner: Rene Contreras
• Region: Santa Ana
• Municipality: Santa Ana
• Altitude 1350masl
• Coffee Variety: Pacas and Bourbon
• Processing: Honey
• Harvest: October-March

Cup Characteristics: Aromas of vanilla, ripe cranberry, and savory herbs. Flavors of lemon, honey, and vanilla. A clean coffee with a pleasant aftertaste.

Roasting Notes: This coffee can be roasted throughout the full range but comes into its own as second crack is just starting. Bring it strongly to first crack then cut down the heat significantly for slow development between cracks.