Characteristics of El Salvador Himalaya Coffee Beans and How to Brew El Salvador Himalaya Coffee

About Project Origin

Sasa Sestic, the 2015 World Barista Champion, launched a green bean sourcing project called Project Origin three years ago with his business team ONA Coffee. The project works directly with coffee farming households in poor countries and regions, improving their production conditions and offering purchase prices 20% higher than fair trade prices.

The original intention of the project also includes strengthening the connection between roasters and coffee farmers and guiding farmers to cultivate high-quality coffee. To date, Sasa has established relationships with coffee growers from eight countries, including Brazil, Panama, India, Ethiopia, El Salvador, and Costa Rica.

Coffee Varieties

Bourbon coffee was originally cultivated on Reunion Island, which was known as Ile Bourbon before 1789. Put simply, Bourbon is a coffee variety belonging to a branch of the Arabica species. It generally produces red fruits and is called Red Bourbon. In addition, there are Yellow Bourbon and Orange Bourbon. Yellow Bourbon has relatively lower yields but better quality.

Typica is one of the oldest varieties among the many Arabica species. Also known as old-variety small-grain coffee, it has low yields and is difficult to cultivate, which makes its price much higher than ordinary small-grain coffee. Typica coffee originates from southeastern Ethiopia and Sudan and is the most widely cultivated coffee variety in the Western Hemisphere.

Brewing Method

Hand-pour El Salvador. 15g coffee grounds, medium grind (Fuji mountain ghost tooth blade grind 4), V60 dripper, water temperature 88-89°C. First pour 30g water for a 27-second bloom, then pour to 105g and stop. Wait until the water level drops to half before pouring again. Slowly pour until reaching 225g total. Avoid the tail section. Water-to-coffee ratio 1:15, extraction time 2:00.

Processing Information

Processing method: Semi-washed

Himalaya Estate is located in the famous Santa Ana production region on the Apaneca mountain range at an altitude of 1,500 meters, and is one of the few estates managed by Aida Batlle. The main cultivated variety is Bourbon.

The beans produced by this estate undergo washed processing at the El Divisadero processing plant in Ataco, owned by Mauricio Salaverria, then are evenly dried using sun-drying and ventilation on African raised beds. Mauricio inherited his parents' and grandparents' business and has been involved with coffee since childhood, with a particular focus on specialty coffee cultivation.

Flavor Profile

Flavor description: wine-like acidity, plum, brown sugar, full body, long aftertaste

Product Details

El Salvador Finca Himalaya

Country: El Salvador
Estate: Himalaya Estate
Region: Santa Ana
Altitude: 1580-1720 meters
Varieties: Red Bourbon, Typica
Processing Plant: El Divisadero
Flavor: Plum, brown sugar, wine-like acidity

Factory: FrontStreet Coffee
Ingredients: Self-roasted
Shelf Life: 30 days
Net Weight: 227g
Packaging: Bulk coffee beans
Roast Level: Roasted coffee beans
Origin: El Salvador
Coffee Type: Other

FrontStreet Coffee Recommendation

Himalaya Estate shows what a full-bodied, wine-like single origin can do, and if that style appeals to you, Brazil is a good region to compare next. As the world's largest coffee producer, Brazil offers moderate acidity and a fine balance of sweetness, bitterness, and body that suits a medium roast, giving an aroma of nuts and a mellow, faintly tart, rounded cup that works as a single origin or in blends.

FrontStreet Coffee's classic Brazilian single origin is the Cerrado Red Bourbon, from the well-known Cerrado region. At a medium roast it opens with rich aromas of creamy peanut, toasted bread, caramel, and hazelnut, with a rounded body, low acidity, and a light bitter note, and it brews well as pour-over as well as in a moka pot, espresso SOE, siphon, or French press.

For a rarer Brazilian cup, FrontStreet Coffee's Queen's Estate comes from Mogiana, near South Minas, where fertile red volcanic soil helps the fruit develop a fuller aroma. Its uncommon Yellow Bourbon, a mutation of Red Bourbon, brings a cleaner fruit character, with a sugarcane sweetness, fruit, and chocolate notes you will not find in other regions, whether you brew it by pour-over, moka pot, or home espresso machine.