Cupping notes: Red fruit, raspberry, baking spice, lemon, molasses
SCA: 87.50
Country: El Salvador
Region: Apaneca Ilamatepec Mountain Range
Subregion: Santa Ana
Farm: La Reforma
Producer/Cooperative/Farmer: Alvarez Family
Varietal: SL28
Altitude: 1,450 masl.
Process: Washed
Washing Station: El Borbollon
Drying: Sun-dried
Soil: Sandy Loam
Grade: Specialty
Screen Size: 15+
Harvest: December-March
Process
This nanolot was cultivated from the exceptional Kenyan SL28 variety. Cherries were floated before undergoing 24 hours of dry fermentation, followed by a slow dry of approx. 18 days on raised beds. Beans were then prepared and processed under the strict standards of El Borbollon, a mill owned and operated by Eduardo Alvarez. Eduardo’s coffee DNA dates back to 1892. Coffees at El Borbollon are pulped without water and washed clean in fresh water after fermentation to remove all traces of mucilage.
Producer
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 to begin anew and create the legacy that would inspire the family 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 where most farms deliver their cherry to external operations for processing. Coffee grown by La Reforma and Santa Maria is handpicked by trained staff and collected in traditional weave baskets from December to March and dispatched to El Borbollon for processing. Every aspect of the journey from harvest to export is managed by the family to ensure the standard of excellence their reputation is honed on.
The Alvarez family invests in the local community and recently partnered with the El Salvador NGO, Libras De Amor, to improve nutrition for children in rural communities. The family also provides considerable ongoing support to community schools and free healthcare clinics to their farm workers and medical care for surrounding villages.