El Salvador Santa Rita Estate Flavor Profile and Characteristics

For professional barista exchanges, follow Coffee Workshop (WeChat official account: cafe_style).

Yellow Bourbon

Yellow Bourbon is a variety whose cherries turn yellow when ripe. It was first discovered in Brazil and is still grown mainly there. It is generally believed to have arisen from a mutation after the red-fruited Bourbon variety crossed with a yellow-fruited Typica variant called "Amerelo de Botocatu." Yellow Bourbon is considered one of the finest quality varieties. While typical Bourbon cherries change from green to yellow to red, Yellow Bourbon cherries stay yellow. Grown at high altitude and processed by natural sun-drying, Yellow Bourbon shows exceptional flavor.

El Salvador Santa Rita Yellow Bourbon Washed SHG EP

Country: El Salvador

Estate: Santa Rita Estate

Region: Santa Rita

Grade: SHG

February 2012 Coffee Review: 94 points

Santa Rita Estate lies in the northern part of the Apaneca-Ilamatepec mountains at roughly 5,000 feet elevation. Santa Ana Volcano (Volcán Santa Ana in Spanish), in southwestern El Salvador in Santa Ana Department, is the country's highest peak (2,362-2,381 meters). The estate is also a model for coffee production in El Salvador.

Variety: Yellow Bourbon

Flavor: Wheatgrass, roasted nuts, maltose

El Salvador is one of Central America's smaller countries. Its coffee is light-bodied, aromatic, pure, and slightly acidic, with the outstanding trait of excellent balance. It is a Central American specialty, showing equal measures of acidity, bitterness, and sweetness.

El Salvador ranks alongside Mexico and Guatemala as a major producer in the region and competes for first or second place in Central America. High-altitude coffee from here features large, well-proportioned beans with rich, mild flavor. Like Guatemala and Costa Rica, El Salvador grades coffee by altitude, with higher elevations producing better coffee. The grades fall into three levels: SHG (Strictly High Grown, also known as SHB, Strictly Hard Bean) for high altitude, HEC (High Grown Central) for medium-high, and CS (Central Standard) for low altitude. The best brand is Pipil, the Aztec-Mayan name for coffee, which has received certification from the Organic Certified Institute of America.

The flavor profile features wheatgrass, roasted nuts, and maltose, with a smooth milk-cream body, rounded acidity, and sweetness reminiscent of brown sugar and hazelnut chocolate.

Brewing Method

For a hand-poured Santa Rita, use 15 g of coffee ground to a medium setting (Fuji ghost-tooth grinder at 4) in a V60 dripper, with water at 88-89°C. Begin with a 30 g pour and let it bloom for 27 seconds. Continue pouring until you reach 105 g, then pause and wait until the water level in the coffee bed drops halfway before continuing. Pour slowly to 225 g total, avoiding the final tail. Use a water-to-coffee ratio of 1:15 and an extraction time of 2:00.

Manufacturer: Coffee Workshop

Address: No. 10 Bao'an Qian Street, Yuexiu District, FrontStreet Coffee

Contact: 020-38364473

Shelf Life: 90 days

Net Weight: 227g

Packaging: Bulk coffee beans

Roast Level: Roasted coffee beans

Origin: El Salvador

Roast Degree: Medium roast

Processing Method: Washed processing

FrontStreet Coffee Recommendation

Santa Rita is prized above all for its balance and gentle sweetness, and Yellow Bourbon is the thread that ties it to some of FrontStreet Coffee's most approachable Brazilian coffees. FrontStreet Brazil Queen Estate Yellow Bourbon comes from Mogiana, where fertile red volcanic soil and a clean mutation of Red Bourbon yield a cane-sugar sweetness layered with fruit and chocolate—mild, rounded, and very easy to drink.

If you would like to compare it with the more classic red-fruited side of the family, FrontStreet Brazil Cerrado Red Bourbon is a medium-roasted single origin with creamy peanut, toasted bread, caramel, and hazelnut notes. Both are low in acidity and shine whether brewed as pour-over, in a moka pot, or as espresso.