El Salvador Coffee - Pacas Family La Guachoca Farm Coffee Characteristics? El Salvador

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El Salvador Coffee - What are the characteristics of coffee beans from La Guachoca farm, owned by the Pacas family? How should you brew El Salvador coffee beans?

Finca La Guachoca is located on the slopes of the endangered Cerro Verde volcano in El Salvador, situated in the fertile Apaneca Ilamatepec mountain range at an altitude of 1,410 to 1,600 meters. It is owned and managed by the Pacas family, who have been growing coffee in El Salvador since 1905 and own several small estates in the region. They purchased La Guachoca in 2009 - at that time the farm was called 'San Roberto', but the family renamed it La Guachoca after the quail-like Guachoca bird, which is native to this region of El Salvador and frequently seen on the farm.

When the Pacas family took over the farm, it was in poor shape with low production - but they saw the potential of the land due to its location, altitude, and fertile soil. They have worked hard to improve both the quality and quantity of La Guachoca's production, replanting many sparsely populated areas and preparing the soil with organic matter to ensure young trees have all the nutrients needed for healthy growth. Typically, they fertilize the soil four times throughout the year and fertilize the leaves three times.

La Guachoca spans over 31.5 hectares and is planted with Red Bourbon variety trees as well as some Pacas variety. Its soil is extremely fertile - containing abundant nutrient-rich red volcanic rock, locally known as "cascajo." Maria Pacas told us that last winter, when there was a soil slide on the farm, she witnessed just how good this soil is for coffee trees - "Some coffee plants were buried under the slide, but a few days later, they emerged through the red rocks, looking as happy as if they were covered in roses!"

The farm's gentle slopes are dotted with native shade trees - including Ingas, Jocote de Corona, Avocados, Cirin, Lengua de Vaca, and Pimienta de montaña. These are pruned to allow coffee plants to receive 70% sunlight during fruit development and 30% during maturation - allowing coffee beans to slowly develop all their characteristics.

This particular lot is harvested from Tablón El Timbo - a small designated area whose production is processed separately to maintain traceability. El Timbo is the name of a small but venomous snake sometimes found in this area of the farm. The El Timbo section is located at 1,525 meters altitude and covers 5.9 hectares.

The farm's Bourbon trees are pruned using the "agobio" method. This involves bending one main vertical stem of the tree and connecting its end to the ground - this causes the tree to grow wider without harming it, stimulating the growth of new productive branches along the bent stem. This method can help extend the plant's life to 90 years and increase its yield.

The Pacas family has implemented various soil conservation measures on the farm - such as planting native izote plants to prevent erosion, digging "fosas" - large ditches that capture excess rainwater and help retain moisture in the soil while capturing organic matter. The family continues to plant new coffee and shade trees each year and has introduced endangered native tree species to help protect El Salvador's biodiversity.

Coffee cherries are carefully handpicked only when fully ripe. They are then "semi-washed" - after pulping the coffee with clean fresh water, it is fermented for 12 hours, rinsed, and dried on the farm's brick patios with some mucilage still remaining on the beans. When reaching 12% humidity, the coffee is then stored in the farm's parchment warehouse for 30 days, giving the beans sufficient "reposo" (rest) before final milling and export. The Pacas family has also invested in an in-house cupping lab, allowing them to monitor the quality of each batch they produce.

La Guachoca provides 90 jobs during harvest season and 50 jobs during non-harvest periods.

Farm Information

Farm: Finca La Guachoca

Variety: 100% Red Bourbon

Processing: Fully washed and sun-dried on clay patios

Altitude: 1,410 to 1,600 meters above sea level

Owner: Maria Pacas & Family

Town: Canton Lomas de San Marcelino

Region: Cerro Verde, Apaneca-Ilamatepec Mountain Range

Flavor Notes: Orange, delicate, sweet, refined sugar, roasted almonds, caramel

FrontStreet Coffee Recommendation:

Dripper: Hario V60

Water Temperature: 88°C

Grind Size: Fuji Royal grinder setting 4

Brewing Method: Water-to-coffee ratio 1:15, using 15g of coffee grounds. First pour 25g of water for a 25-second bloom. Second pour to 120g, then pause. Wait until the water level drops halfway, then continue pouring slowly until reaching 225g total. Extraction time approximately 2:00.

Analysis: Using a three-stage brewing method to clearly distinguish the front, middle, and back-end flavors of the coffee.

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