El Salvador Single Origin - La Cumbre Los Pirineos Shade #13 - Honey Processed Pacamara
We are really happy to return to the "land of the volcanoes" to bring you this sweet and juicy pacamara coffee which has been lovingly shade grown high up in the volcanic solids of Usulutan. 'La Cumbre' is a section of the family-run farm Los Pirineos - a farm that has won the national 'Cup of Excellence' competition an impressive 8 times.
Variety/Cultivar: Pacamara
Pacamara is a very special varietal of Arabica coffee that is a deliberate crossing of the Paca variety with the Margogipe variety. The project to create this cultivar was begun in 1958 by the Salvadoran Institure for Coffee Research but it wasn't until 30 years later in the 1980s that it was released to coffee producers.
Pacamara coffees are celebrated for their unique flavour characteristics and are prized for high crop yields while being resistant to diseases. They are also significantly larger than most other coffee varieties.
The Farm: Los Pirineos
The 'Los Pirineos' farm is located at 1450 meters above sea level near the top of the Tecepa Volcano in the south-east of El Salvador. (It is named after the Pyrenees mountains in Europe as the terrain looks similar to the mountains between France and Spain).
The farm has been in the Baraona Family for more than 120 years, since the family first moved there in 1880. Gilberto, one of the 3rd generation of coffee farmers from the Baraona family, now owns the farm and has designed and built the most modern specialty coffee mill in the whole of El Salvador. All of the processing takes place on the farm, and Gilberto oversees all aspects of production with a meticulous eye for detail.
The farm and mill have 50 full-time employees and they take on a further 75 during the peak of the harvest. Gilberto’s obsession with quality means he pays well above the legal minimum wages to all his staff. He requires far more precision and attention to detail than the average coffee farm and so he has invested time and money in the people who manage the processing. As a result of the training and support he offers, even his temporary staff are consistent from year to year.
Taste
Pear, chocolate, some florals. Soft, green grape. Honey like sweetness.
Cupping Score - 86
Any score over 80 means that a coffee is considered 'speciality'. Over 85 and it's really something special. This coffee has been awarded a cupping score of 87.
Processing - Honey
This coffee is a microlot from the farm that has been honey-processed. This means that the skin and flesh are removed from the coffee bean, but about 30% of the inner fruit pulp is left clinging to the beans.
The beans with this layer of are dried (under shade) in the sun on raised drying beds for 3-4 weeks, The extra layer of fruit pulp imparts a sweetness reminiscent of honey which is why it's known as honey processing.
Muttley & Jack's Coffee Roasters
Muttley & Jack’s is a prize winning coffee roastery based in Stockholm. Each month members receive a box of freshly roasted specialty grade coffee with an education pack to help coffee lovers and the coffee curious get more out of their coffee.
The 'Coffee Experience' packages together speciality coffee, travel and education. Discover more about 'Coffee Experience' membership.
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