El Salvador: Los Pirineos #15, Natural Bourbon

In the cup: Flavours of pear, chocolate and apricot, with a hint of strawberries. Complex, very smooth & delicate body, lychee in finish. Clean and light, very fresh natural.

Cupping Score: 88

Mouthfeel: Delicate

Variety: Bourbon

Process: Natural 

Farm: Finca Los Pirineos

Microlot: La Cumbre #15

Producer: Gilberto Baraona

Altitude: 1550 metres above sea leve

Background:

Los Pirineos is a unique farm, situated on the Tepeca volcano in Usulatan, and Gilberto Baraona is a unique producer. He has been working with different cultivars and honey processes. His strategy has been to experiment with different cultivars, and assess which cultivar will work best on the different parts of the farm where the altitude ranges across the farm.
The climate and growing conditions in this area are great despite the medium altitudes. The cold nights makes the maturation slow and the flavor development really nice. Gilberto is a producer we also have worked with for years, and he’s always interested in playing around with different preparations and processes.

Origin: Los Pirineos

In Usulutan, on top of the Tepeca volcano, you can find Los Pirineos owned by the producer Gilberto Baraona. It’s located on a volcanic mountain range surrounded by the cities of Berlin, Santiago de Maria and Joy. The cultivation of coffee at the farm was started in 1890 and according to family accounts, the original seeds of the property, and the mother plants were imported from Antigua Guatemala. The coffee is separated in to small to medium sized batches based up on different parts of the farm and coffee varietals. Currently the farm cultivates the varietals Bourbon Elite, Pacas and Pacamara, but the farm has also taken part in a Procafe project growing different varitals. As a result they have plots of of native coffee trees, natural mutants and hybrids originated from all over the world. Los Pirineos farm was one of the pioneers in El Salvador to build its own Micro Coffee Mill. The producer still experiments with processing and drying methods. For the coffees purchased this year we did a trial on soaking after the coffees were pulped and demucilaged, and with great success flavor wise.