Salvadoran Cup O' Coffee

+ salvadoran coffee history

El Salvador is a small country in Mexico, Central America that borders Guatemala, Honduras and the Pacific Ocean.

Before coffee was discovered in El Salvador, indigo dye had been the dominant export crop but was soon exceeded by coffee in the 1880s which changed the Salvadoran export industry from then on. El Salvador was making millions with all of its rich and unique coffee, but in 1881 and 1882 the government decided to make money from the land people were freely using to harvest their own coffee crops.

The government put in place two new laws. The first being that people could only farm on the land that they had bought (from the government) and it would be rightfully their private property. The second law was that all the people had to be employed which meant that the people who couldn’t afford the land had to become slaves to those who did. Basically, the rich people made more fortune from their private land and the poor became peasants.

+ what is the difference between arabica and robusta coffee beans? what type is farmed in el salvador?

Arabica beans are physically more of an oval shape, taste sweeter/fruity/citrus/wine, have a softer texture and also a higher acidity level. They are grown mainly in Latin America and are also harder to manage than robusta.

Robusta beans have a stronger more earthy taste and are shaped more like flat circles. The colour of the two beans can also vary in shades (arabica being darker and robusta being slightly lighter). They have a gritty texture and harsher taste with a peanut buttery aftertaste. They are easy to grow and are exclusively in the eastern hemisphere. Robusta beans also contain almost twice as much caffeine than arabica beans.

El Salvador produces arabica beans due to its ideal tropical climate, mountainous landscape, rich soil and regular rainfall. The mountains are the main reason why arabica beans are perfect for harvesting there as arabica beans are usually grown at 1200-1500m above sea level. This also makes them really good quality. However, there are also arabica beans that are grown lower at 900m above sea level to give the beans time to mature and enhance flavours.

+ varieties of coffee in el salvador

Coffee varieties occur when a different species of coffee plants merge together to create a new original flavour.

There are quite a few varieties of coffee beans but the ones that are grown in El Salvador include:

the native Pacamara (combination of Pacas and Maragojipe)
Pacas (natural mutation of Bourbon with Cattura)
Geisha (original variety from Ethiopia)
Catuai (Mundo Novo and Caturra)
Catistic
Typica

+ where is coffee grown in el salvador?

Coffee is grown in the mountain ranges all over El Salvador – but mainly in the western region – as they promote quality growth for the coffee plants. They are grown high on the mountain peaks at around 1200-1800m high for optimum growth. The coffee beans are also grown in shade to prevent them from drying out in the harsh Salvadoran sun. Surprisingly, some coffee plants are grown on inactive volcanoes. Their soil contains a lot of good nutrients for the crops – making them taste rich and earthy.

In the Angel Mountain Farm – located in central El Salvador – the many varieties of Bourbon coffee plants are grown over 400 feet of land around the Eomasagua Village. This particular land is prime for the plants with the natural shade from the Balsam Trees which give the beans a unique fruity floral taste.

+ how is it harvested/grown/processed?

For El Salvador, the harvesting season starts in October for lower lying crops (900m) and March for the high altitude crops. The beans are grown in shade to maintain a consistent temperature which ultimately slows the development to mature the berries. Most of the beans are organically grown with soil composting which gives the beans a richer taste.

They are harvested in late November to early January and are selectively handpicked when fully ripened. The unripe beans are separated before heading of to the mill. They are transported the day they are picked to keep them fresh and to keep them from fermenting.

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The beans are ‘wet processed’ which is a process where the red berries flesh is soaked off by machines to reveal the two coffee beans. They then go through another process called the ‘honey process’ which gets rid of the excess pulp still attached to the beans by using fermentation and water. This also gives the beans a more fruity taste.

They are then laid on African sun beds to dry out naturally in the sun.

The beans are exported to the cafe that buys them and they are roasted there with their own methods. They are then either sold as single origin or as a blend.

+ where can you purchase salvadoran coffee from?

These unique coffee beans can of course be purchased online like almost anything these days. You can buy them from a website called ‘www.mycuppa.com.au’ and ‘www.simplycoffee.com.au’ which are Australian coffee bean roaster sites. ‘Simply Coffee’ also has a coffee shop/cafe located in Kent Town, Adelaide where you can buy almost any coffee type from every region. ‘Please Say Please’ also in Adelaide make single origin El Salvador coffees which are apparently quite good.

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+ interesting facts about el salvador coffee beans :

El Salvador actually grows some coffee beans on the land of their inactive volcanoes like like the San Salvador volcano in El Balsam-Quezaltepec region. The high quality soil gives the bean a unique earthy rich tone.
The El Salvador coffee beans have tones of citrus, toffee and fruit.
There are 3 Starbucks in El Salvador

El Salvador have frequent earthquakes + volcano eruptions which makes farming the beans hard at times.
There is a cloud forest that is about 2417m high on the peak of Monte Cristo Mountain.
El Salvador has beautiful beaches + have international surfing competitions because of it.