El Salvador Himalaya Coffee Brands and Brewing Steps

Processing Method: Honey Process

Finca Himalaya sits in the celebrated Santa Ana region, in the Apaneca mountain range at an altitude of 1,500 meters. It is one of the few estates managed by Aida Batlle, and Bourbon is the primary variety cultivated there.

The estate's beans are processed at Mauricio Salaverria's El Divisadero mill in Ataco, then dried uniformly on African raised beds using sunlight and ventilation. Mauricio inherited the business from his parents and grandparents and has worked with coffee since childhood, with a particular focus on specialty coffee cultivation.

Brewing Instructions

Pour-over El Salvador coffee: 15g of coffee at a medium grind (Fujiyama grinder with ghost tooth burrs, set to #4), a V60 dripper, and water at 88-89°C. Begin with a 30g bloom and let it sit for 27 seconds, then pour to 105g and pause. Once the water level drops to half, continue pouring slowly up to 225g total, avoiding the tail end. Water-to-coffee ratio 1:15, extraction time 2:00.

Flavor Profile

Red wine acidity, plum, brown sugar, full-bodied mouthfeel, long aftertaste

El Salvador Finca Himalaya

Country: El Salvador

Estate: Finca Himalaya

Region: Santa Ana

Altitude: 1,580-1,720 meters

Varieties: Red Bourbon, Typica

Processing Plant: El Divisadero

Flavor: Plum, brown sugar, red wine acidity

Manufacturer: Dazhen Coffee FrontStreet Coffee (FrontStreet Coffee)
Address: No. 10, Bao'an Front Street, Yuexiu District, Guangzhou
Contact: 020-38364473
Ingredients: In-house roasted
Shelf Life: 30 days
Net Weight: 227g
Packaging: Bulk coffee beans
Roast Level: Roasted coffee beans
Origin: El Salvador
Coffee Type: Other

About Project Origin

Sasa Sestic, the 2015 World Barista Champion, launched a green coffee sourcing project called Project Origin three years ago together with his team at ONA Coffee. The project works directly with coffee-farming families in impoverished countries and regions, improving their production conditions and paying them prices 20% above fair trade rates.

The project's founding purpose also includes strengthening the connection between roasters and coffee farmers and guiding growers toward high-quality production. To date, Sasa has built relationships with coffee producers in eight countries, among them Brazil, Panama, India, Ethiopia, El Salvador, and Costa Rica.

Coffee Varieties

Bourbon coffee was first cultivated on Réunion Island, called Île Bourbon before 1789. Put simply, Bourbon is an Arabica variety that generally bears red fruit — hence Red Bourbon. There are also Yellow Bourbon and Orange Bourbon; Yellow Bourbon yields less but delivers superior quality.

Typica is one of the oldest Arabica varieties. Sometimes called the old variety of small-grained coffee, it yields little and is difficult to cultivate, which makes it considerably more expensive than ordinary commercial coffee. Typica traces back to southeastern Ethiopia and Sudan and is the most widely planted coffee variety in the Western Hemisphere.

FrontStreet Coffee Recommendation

This bean is brewed here with a Hario V60, and for good reason. Hario was founded in Tokyo in 1921 as a maker of heatproof laboratory glassware; in 2004 the company redesigned the original V60 into the form we know today, naming it for its distinctive 60-degree cone and "V" shape, and brought it to market a year later. The cone and 60-degree angle force water to flow toward the center before dripping into the server, extending the contact between water and grounds so that aroma and flavor extract fully, while the signature single large hole leaves the flow rate almost entirely up to the brewer's pouring control.

The V60's fast-draining character shines brightest with floral-and-fruity coffees, where it draws out layered aromatics and lively acidity. FrontStreet Coffee especially recommends the Yirgacheffe Worka "Guodingding" with its gentle citrus, berry, and floral notes and a green-tea-like sweetness; the Huakui, bursting with tropical fruit — strawberry, passion fruit, jackfruit, even lychee — and so juicy that fans call it "the least coffee-like coffee"; the Panama Esmeralda Red Label Geisha, with jasmine florals, citrus, bergamot, and black tea in a clean, transparent cup; and the Kenya "Cherry Tomato," washed SL28 and SL34 from Thika at 1,550-1,750 meters using the classic 72-hour double fermentation, delivering crisp cherry-tomato and dried-plum acidity with yellow sugar and a whisper of green tea in the finish.

If your taste runs toward the smoother, low-acid side — the territory this honey-processed El Salvador occupies — FrontStreet Coffee's PWN Indonesian Golden Mandheling (dark roasted, low acidity, thick and long on the palate with herbs, dark chocolate, and a touch of earth) and the Brazil Queen Estate (balanced, with rich nut and cocoa aromas, pronounced caramel sweetness, excellent crema, and versatility across pour-over, espresso, and moka pot) are the classic benchmarks, ideal as everyday drinkers.