|
Useful Links:
• Definitions of terms and numbers • Roast Pictorial Guide • Flavor Quality Analysis graphs Check out our Shipping Rates - ship up to 20 lbs for $8.99 |
|
 Unripe green coffee cherry, Pacas cultivar, El Salvador 2004.
 Ripe red coffee cherry in the receiving bin at the Jasal mill. |
El Salvador coffee had an undeservingly poor reputation for years, marred mostly by the inability to deliver coffee of high quality in an unstable political climate. Unfortunately, agriculture is the first to suffer in revolution, since it requires years to rebuild a farm if it is neglected. In El Salvador the coffee trade, like the government in general, was controlled by a ruling elite ... a handful of wealthy families that operated many farms. El Salvador had tended towards the right politically, and the smaller coffee farmer and coffee workers fared poorly in this climate. But the democratic movements and decades of civil war have changed many things. It shows in the quality of coffee, and the availibility of small lots from exceptional small-scale farms. Instead of low grade commercial blending coffees, we now see an eruption of farm-specific regional offerings from small co-ops or estates. El Salvador always had the right ingredients ---soil, altitude, climate ---to produce coffee on par with Guatemala. Most of all, it has the cultivars; Bourbon, the classic old-world coffee; Pacamara, the full-character, odd-ball varietal. For the past 7 years I have been able to buy incredible Salvadors --drop dead quality, great acidity, refinement and depth. Last year it was the incredible Organic Los Naranjos. Then we had the Santa Ritas and Salaverrias. Good stuff. Then the real bombshell coffee: the Cup of Excellence lot from the San Francisco farm. After that, our Organic Santa Adelaida lots, and our Pacamara Cup of Excellence coffees. This truly represents the pinnacle of high grown Salvadors. This year we offer 3 lots from the Cup of Excellence Auctions! If you like, you can read about our trip there, and Tom's role as a judge in the competition. More recent information is located in my January 2006 travelogue.
|
| El Salvador - Yellow Bourbon Cultivar | |||||||
| Country: | El Salvador | Grade: | SHB | Region: | Santa Rita | Mark: | El Molino de Santa Rita |
| Processing: | Wet-process | Crop: | September 2008 Arrival | Appearance: | .2 d/300gr, 17-18 Screen | Varietal: | 100% Yellow Bourbon |
| Notes:Bourbon coffee is a classic cultivar, named for the island of Bourbon (now called Reunion) where it was originally cultivated. When we call it classic, we mean not just the fact that it is a lower-yield, heirloom plant, and that it has a very dense seed that roasts well, but also the cup character. Bourbon (pronounced Bore-Bone), especially those from El Salvador, are neo-typical Central American coffees. They are bright, aromatic, balanced, semisweet or bittersweet, chocolatey and have a creamy mouthfeel. Most of this cultivar have fruit that ripen to a red color, hence Red Bourbon, Orange Bourbon (rare), and then there is Yellow Bourbon too. Yellow Bourbon tends to be more fragile on the tree and in harvest, so in many areas (with Brazil as an exception) you do not see much Yellow Bourbon. We have special Yellow Bourbon from Guatemala (Finca Retana in Antigua) and then there is this lot of El Salvador. It is from a farm I visited last year called El Molino de Santa Rita. The cup has a toasty sweetness in the fragrance, and the wet aroma has clean fruited notes, with a touch of lemon in the lighter roasts. The cup flavors are bright and crisp at City to City+, and have honeydew melon hints at Full City roast. I like the complexity that emerges at FC roast where bittersweet notes mingle with refined, sweet fruit, and extend well into the aftertaste. Toasty sweetness is present from the start to finish in the aromatics and cup here. It has a great balance overall, making it a quintessential classic Central American flavor profile. |
 Yellow Bourbon harvested at El Molinho de Santa Rita. |
||||||
|
|
|||||||
| Intensity/Prime Attribute:Mild-Medium intensity / Balance and toasty sweetness | |||||||
| Roast:City+ to FC+, works well under a wide range of roasts. I liked the added complexity at FC roast. | |||||||
| Compare to: Classic Bourbon flavor profile, a great Central American type coffee. This coffee is part of our direct trade Farm Gate pricing transparency program. | |||||||
| El Salvador - Yellow Bourbon Cultivar (farm gate) | $5.70
 | $10.83
 | $24.80 | $47.31 | $87.78 |
| El Salvador Cup of Excellence - Finca Malacara | |||||||
| Country: | El Salvador | Grade: | SHB | Region: | Santa Ana, Cantón La Montañita | Mark: | 5th Place, Cup of Excellence 2008, Malacara Farm |
| Processing: | Wet-process | Crop: | August 2008 Arrival | Appearance: | 2 d/300gr, 19+ Screen | Varietal: | 100% Bourbon |
| Notes:Malacara is a farm I have admired for their fine Cup of Excellence lots in the past 3 years. And I must admit I like the name a lot: Bad Face. The farm is at 1550 meters near the town of Cantón La Montañita on the Santa Ana volcano. The farm has been in one family, handed down and divided since the early 1900's, and the average age of the trees is 49 years old! the coffee is grown under a shade canopy of trees, mainly made up of Ingas and mountain trees such as cedar, walnut, gravileo and avocado among others. Bourbon coffee is a classic cultivar, named for the island of Bourbon (now called Reunion) where it was originally cultivated. When we call it classic, we mean not just the fact that it is a lower-yield, heirloom plant, and that it has a very dense seed that roasts well, but also the cup character. Bourbon coffees, especially those from El Salvador, are neotypical Central American coffees. They are bright, aromatic, balanced, semisweet or bittersweet, chocolaty and have a creamy mouthfeel. In a competition like Cup of Excellence, these characteristics might seem mundane next to the exotic flavors of the Pacamara cultivar, but Bourbon should be appreciate for more than it's sturdiness, versatility (they make great espresso blend components), and the way they take a wide range of roasts. Each has unique accent notes too. This lot was one of my favorite Bourbon lots in the competition. The dry fragrance has strong nut and toffee roasty scents, but behind that there are soft floral tones, and suggestions of starfruit. The wet aromatics are a little citrusy and spicy with a bit of anise and sassafras. In the cup, the coffee is extremely sweet and bright. I immediately found bright strawberry flavors and sweet mandarin-orange citrus brightness. As it cools, the sweetness become more caramelly, and the sharper notes from the aromatics soften a lot. It has a very clean finish, articulate. It's simply outstanding, high-grown Bourbon coffee, a real flawless gem. |
 View of shade trees and coffee shrubs at Finca Malacara |
||||||
|
|
|||||||
| Intensity/Prime Attribute:Medium intensity / Very sweet, citrusy, bright, and clean. | |||||||
| Roast:City+ to FC | |||||||
| Compare to: Classic Bourbon structure with sweet citrus and strawberry. This coffee is part of our direct trade Farm Gate pricing transparency program. | |||||||
| El Salvador Cup of Excellence - Finca Malacara (farm gate) | $9.50
| $18.05
| $41.33 | Limit 5 pounds |
| El Salvador Finca Kilimanjaro (farm gate) | $7.80
| $14.82
| Limit 2 pounds |
| El Salvador Finca Mauritania | |||||||
| Country: | El Salvador | Grade: | SHB | Region: | Potrero Grande Arriba, Santa Ana Volcano, Apaneca-Ilamatepec | Mark: | Finca Mauritania |
| Processing: | Wet Process | Crop: | Late September 2008 Arrival | Appearance: | 0 d/300gr, 17-18 screen | Varietal: | 100% Bourbon |
| Notes:Finca Mauritania is owned and managed by Aida Batlle, who also brings us the award-winning Finca Kilimanjaro and her exclusive Grand Reserve each year. Aida's Mauritania has been offered by our friends at Counter Culture for years, and they have had a long working relationship with this special coffee, investing so much time (and funds) to get the Finca Mauritania Organic certified. Sweet Maria's is just a grateful hitch hiker, and we are really happy to tag along for the ride. For me, Mauritania is such a classic Central flavor profile, balanced if not somewhat restrained. But if you pay attention to this cup through all temperature ranges, from hot to cool, there is so much to discover. This farm is is on the Northern slope of the Santa Ana volcano, between 1400 meters and 1600 meters, and is planted in pure Bourbon cultivar. At my preferred roast (City+) dry fragrance is caramelly sweetly fruited, with peach-apricot preserves, and a touch of rose hips and candied orange peel. The wet aroma follows the same suit, but has more heightened, jammy sweetness, and cinnamon spice on the break. The cup has such a balanced body, with spiced tea flavors, peach danish, cinnamon (again), a touch of ginger, and a very clean finish. I get slight cherry notes in the aftertaste, and a little confectionery sweetness. The body seems creamy, and well-matched to the cup flavors. |
 Harvesting coffee and re-sorting at Finca Mauritania |
||||||
|
|
|||||||
| Intensity/Prime Attribute:Mild-Medium intensity / Delicate yet nuanced, classic Central character | |||||||
| Roast:As with a lot of clean, wet-processed Centrals, this is most "nuanced" at City+ roast, and with a couple days of rest. | |||||||
| Compare to: Classic Central American balance, with a unique "mild complexity". This coffee is part of our direct trade Farm Gate pricing transparency program. | |||||||
| El Salvador Finca Mauritania (farm gate) | $6.50
| $12.35
| $28.28 | $53.95 | $100.10 |
| El Salvador Santa Rita Full Natural | |||||||
| Country: | El Salvador | Grade: | SHB | Region: | Santa Rita | Mark: | El Molino de Santa Rita |
| Processing: | Dry-process (Aka, Natural) | Crop: | August 2008 Arrival | Appearance: | .2 d/300gr, 17-18 Screen | Varietal: | Bourbon |
| Notes:This lot is an odd mix of non-traditional processing and old-world cultivar. Bourbon coffee is a classic cultivar, named for the island of Bourbon (now called Reunion) where it was originally cultivated. When we call it classic, we mean not just the fact that it is a lower-yield, heirloom plant, and that it has a very dense seed that roasts well, but also the cup character. But here is something very UN-traditional. This is a full natural coffee ... another way of saying "dry-processed." We had this lot prepared just for us: a Bourbon coffee has been dry processed, as done in Ethiopia and Brazil. Whole coffee cherry is picked from the tree and immediately dried, without peeling the skin, fermentation of the fruity mucilage, as they do in traditional Central America wet-processing. When you sun-dry coffee fruit right off the tree, all the skin and fruit of the coffee is intact, and it dries like a raisin. The mucilage turns to a sweet, chewy, dehydrated form, encoating the green seed protected by its parchment layer. Once fully dried, it is left to rest for some days, then in one step the skin, dried fruit flesh, parchment layer and all are torn from the green seed. The result is something between an Ethiopia coffee and a Central coffee, quite strange but, in this case, quite excellent. The result is lower acidity, tons of body, and a very different flavor profile than any other El Salvador coffee. It's also unlike other dry-processed coffees because it still has brightness that others lack. In the light roasts, it has increased body and chocolate roast notes, with good "coffee cherry fruit brightness". Darker roasts are extremely chocolaty., and the immediate cupping comparison we had was Ethiopia Idido Misty Valley. There are apricot and coffee cherry fruited tones, over drying chocolate body. It has a unique bittersweet quality. |
 View of a volcano on the way to Santa Rita |
||||||
|
|
|||||||
| Intensity/Prime Attribute:Bold intensity / Heavy body, brightness, chocolate | |||||||
| Roast:City+ to FC+ to French. This is great coffee at a wide range of roasts! | |||||||
| Compare to: Unique flavor due to dry processing (aka natural). The darker roasts are very good in espresso! This coffee is part of our direct trade Farm Gate pricing tranparency program. | |||||||
| El Salvador Santa Rita Full Natural (farm gate) | $6.40
| $12.16
| $27.84 | $53.12 | $98.56 |
Tom's Sample Cupping Log | Moisture Content Readings This page is authored
by Thompson Owen and Sweet Maria's Coffee, Inc. and is not to be
copied or reproduced without permission
|
