El Salvador Coffee | Central American Coffee Beans | Green Hills Estate Popolon Processing Plant

Central American Coffee Beans

El Salvador is one of Central America's classic coffee origins, and this lot from the Santa Ana volcanic region shows the balance and gentle sweetness the area is known for.

Coffee Details

Region: Santa Ana Volcanic Region

Estate: La Reforma & El Borbollon Processing Plant

Variety: Red Bourbon

Altitude: 1,300 to 1,500 meters

Grade: SHB

Processing: Washed

Harvest Period: October to February each year

Tasting Notes

The fresh green beans carry a melon-like fragrance and a fine, wine-like acidity. In the cup you get a genuinely juicy fruit sweetness and a syrup-thick, sugary texture, with purple grapes, cherry juice, and layered berry flavors touched by delicate sun-dried notes. It is a remarkably refreshing expression of a Salvadoran green bean.

El Borbollon Processing Plant Awards

2010 COE (Cup of Excellence) 10th Place

2009 COE 20th Place

2008 COE 5th Place, 23rd Place

2007 COE 20th Place

2005 COE 3rd Place

Introduction

El Salvador's active volcanoes have left the country blanketed in mineral-rich volcanic ash. Because the soil is composed mainly of that ash, it holds more minerals and less organic matter than typical farmland. To keep the soil fertile and make up for the shortage of organic matter, Salvadoran farmers spread processed coffee pulp or other organic material beneath their trees as fertilizer, feeding the soil what it lacks so the trees can produce better-balanced beans. El Salvador's most significant contribution has been bringing organic agriculture to the wider world: the country cultivates over 150,000 tons of organic coffee every year.

El Salvador has five major coffee-producing regions (Apaneca, Central Belt, Chichontepec, Tecapa & Cacahuatique Mountain Range), most of them on high mountain slopes or plateau areas above 1,200 meters and covered in volcanic ash. The harvest runs from November to April of the following year. Coffee prefers a moderate climate, so Salvadoran farmers usually plant their trees under tall shade trees (shade-grown coffee) to avoid the excessive heat and direct sunlight that can hurt bean quality. The beans produced are Arabica, with Pacas and Bourbon as the main varieties, prized for their large size, sweet flavors, and excellent overall cup.

The El Borbollon processing plant is owned by the Alvarez family, who have grown coffee in El Salvador for over 100 years and are now in their fourth generation of management. The coffee it processes comes from two nearby estates, La Reforma and El Cerro. La Reforma Estate was founded by Rafael Alvarez Lalinde in 1892 and belongs to the same family that owns the mill. El Borbollon is currently run by Eduardo Alvarez. The 2011 El Salvador CoE national competition third place went to Finca La Reforma, also owned by the Alvarez family, who are best known for the El Borbollon processing plant. Finca La Reforma sits in the Santa Ana volcanic region, where the volcanic nutrients and the unique climate of Santa Ana Mountain give the area abundant resources for coffee. It is precisely those volcanoes that create the excellent terrain and climate needed for superior quality coffee. The Alvarez family has also given a great deal back to the local community, providing free medical care and basic education facilities for their workers.

Flavor Characteristics

Aromatic notes of herbs such as lemon balm and lemongrass, flavors of almond, walnut, and milk chocolate, with a very soft fruit acidity and a clean almond aroma on both the front and back end.

FrontStreet Coffee Recommendation

El Salvador's washed coffees, like this one, are all about clarity and balance, and the same qualities run through FrontStreet Coffee's washed selection. A great place to start is the FrontStreet Yirgacheffe Gedingding Cooperative, a team from Gedingding village known for its skilled processing. Because the coffee is washed, it shows jasmine florals and bright citrus acidity at their fullest, and a light-medium roast brings out green tea and honey notes.

If you like a fruitier, more savory kind of brightness, try the FrontStreet Kenya Little Tomato. Kenya is famous for double-washing its beans, and this lot is no exception, delivering an extremely juicy cup with cherry tomato, smoked plum, snow pear, black plum, and yellow sugar notes that stay sweet and tart at the same time.

For something softer and more rounded, the FrontStreet Jamaica Blue Mountain No. 1 is a washed classic. Jamaica's island climate and shorter sunshine hours made washing the natural choice, and the result is a clear, low-defect bean with a rich, pure character of hazelnut, cream, chocolate, and caramel, balanced so that no single note dominates.