萨尔瓦多Marina Cumbre农场Las Cruces处理厂波旁咖啡豆风味特点

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Flavor and Profile of El Salvador Marina Cumbre Farm Las Cruces Processing Plant Bourbon Coffee Beans

Marina Cumbre is a farm, part of a project in collaboration with the Jasal family. It is owned by producer Alejandro Duarte. Because he doesn't have his own mill, the coffee is processed at Beneficio Las Cruces. Alejandro places great emphasis on forest conservation, with a large portion of the farm being forest environment, with native trees, plants, and animals. The farm is located at an altitude of 1550 meters and has performed well over the years. It covers 70 hectares and is known for sweet, delicate, and classic El Salvador coffee. The planted varieties are a mixture of Bourbons and Pacamara. The producers are innovative in processing and agriculture. They separate everything according to the days of picking and apply different processes, fermentation, and drying techniques according to capacity and potential. In this case, it undergoes mechanical demucilage before being soaked overnight in clean water, then carefully dried on patios. They manage the drying time by building layers and piling the coffee.

This coffee is processed at the Las Cruces factory owned by the Salaverria family, but the farm is owned by Alejandro Duarte. Marina Cumbre is located at the highest point of the Cordillera El Balsamo mountain range in central El Salvador. The coffee farm is surrounded by Balsamo trees, which were established and founded in El Salvador many years ago. For producer Mr. Alejandro Duarte, environmental protection is a very important task, and the farm preserves the native/natural forest in the central part of the farm. This natural forest, with many native Balsamo trees, is home to many species and also provides an ideal microclimate and shade for coffee cultivation. In the farm, you can also see a water source protection area that provides water for surrounding communities and schools.

This farm is part of a project by El Salvador producer Jose Antonio Salaverria and his two sons, Andres Salaverria and the younger Jose Antonio Salaverria. Coffee cultivation on the farm began in 1890, and according to the family, the original seeds and mother plants of the property were imported from Antigua Guatemala. The coffee is separated into small to medium-sized batches according to different parts of the farm and coffee varieties. Currently, the farm grows varieties such as Bourbon Elite, Pacas, and Pacamara, but the farm also participates in the Procafe project of planting different varieties. Therefore, they have native coffee trees from around the world, natural mutants, and hybrids. Los Pirineos farm is one of the pioneers in establishing its own micro-mill in El Salvador. The producers are still experimenting with processing and drying methods.

Coffee from different farms they own or cooperate with is processed at their central factory, Las Cruces. They purchased Beneficio Las Cruses in 1990 and have made many improvements since then. Much of their success is based on their passion for coffee. They work hard, are pragmatic, patient, focus on quality, and make it sustainable. They have also successfully built a great team. Jose Antonio believes that workers and the team are the greatest assets.

Around the Santa Ana volcano in El Salvador, there are three different main coffee-producing areas. This is part of a long-term project. We book most of our coffee based on three-year contracts. We not only separate by farm and blocks (tablones), but also try to optimize quality by changing processes to prepare different value-added products. It's basically done by changing the preparation of the coffee, which is picked by blocks and goes into the pulper through fermentation and soaking as well as drying methods.

La Cumbre is a specific section of the Los Pirineos farm, located in some of the highest altitude areas at 1485 meters. It is of the old Bourbon variety. The climate and growing conditions are good, and in this region, it gets cold when the altitude is higher. The cold nights make maturity slow, and flavor development very good. Gilberto is a producer we have been working with for many years, and he is always interested in playing with different preparations and processes. This coffee is picked when it is ultra-ripe, mechanically demucilaged, then carefully dried on raised beds in the sun. Drying takes about 15 days. They manage the drying time by building layers and piling the coffee.

Processing Method

Coffee is mostly processed according to experiments and adjustments we make at the wet mill. They are using an eco-pulper called Jotagallo for about 80% mechanical demucilage. Their standard procedure is to send the pulped parchment directly to the patio for drying. We decided to soak most of the purchased coffee overnight for 10 hours after pulping because we believe it makes the coffee more elegant. We feel the cup is brighter and cleaner, seems to increase shelf life, and the acidity profile is clearer. The cups tend to be more closed at the beginning, but they usually open up a lot after a few months post-picking. We tend to prefer these, even though some regular processes and honey-dry/pulp-naturals are preferred by others. The coffee is then dried on clay patios for up to 15 days, or on drying beds in the sun or shade. They also do a lot of experiments, including different fermentation methods last year, natural and honey, drying on patios, African beds, in shade and sun, and will follow up next year.

Varieties

Mainly Bourbon, plus Catuai, Pacamara, and some rare varieties

General Flavor Profile

Overall, these coffees taste like great classic El Salvador. Sweet cherry flavor, red berries, soft and rich, with good mouthfeel and intensity. They work well as espresso but are also very good to drink and can be easily consumed. Just good, very easy-to-like coffee. Truly balanced, pleasant, and solid. Apple aroma, cherry and banana flavors, wrapped in sweetness and silky texture, red berries, plums, stone fruits, floral notes, dried fruits, cocoa, and hazelnuts.

La Cumbre coffee is grown between 1500 and 1600 meters, about 200 meters higher than El Manzano. Compared to the quality of the already amazing low-altitude coffee, it has more obvious fruit aroma and achieved higher grades in cupping!

La Cumbre is an Arabica coffee, Bourbon variety, harvested from late December to mid-February. The beans are dried on patios. Each batch of coffee is analyzed in the laboratory and cupped.

FrontStreet Coffee's Recommended Brewing Method:

Dripper: Hario V60

Water Temperature: 90 degrees

Grind Size: Fuji grinder setting 4

Brewing Technique: Water-to-coffee ratio 1:15, 15g coffee grounds. First infusion with 25g water, let bloom for 25s. Second infusion to 120g water, then stop pouring. Wait until the water level in the coffee bed drops to halfway, then continue pouring slowly until reaching 225g total water. Extraction time around 2:00.

Analysis: Using a three-stage brewing method to clearly distinguish the front, middle, and back-end flavors of the coffee. Because V60 has many ribs and drains quickly, stopping the water can extend the extraction time, better extracting the nutty and chocolate flavors from the back-end.

Flavor: Multi-layered, overall clean, with a relatively light mouthfeel. The aftertaste has a persistent caramel sweetness with a hint of bitterness.

Important Notice :

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