Introduction to El Salvador Corojo Farm Cooperative - How Should You Drink El Salvador Coffee?

Introduction to El Salvador Corojo Farm Cooperative - How Should You Drink El Salvador Coffee?

Choir Lot

Producer Name: Marcos Martinez

Processing: Honey Process

Farm Name: Cooperativa San Carlos Dos

Variety: Pacamara

Altitude: 1600 MASL

Certification: Rainforest Alliance

Municipality: Osicala, Morazán

Farm Size: 21 hectares

Region: Caserío El Tablón, Canton Zarca

Coordinates: 13°46'18.3"N 88°11'46.1"W

Farm Story

Cooperativa San Carlos Dos was born in 1979, when the country was implementing land reform aimed at protecting land through a cooperative system on farms and estates. The government provided residents of Corahuatique, in the jurisdiction of Osicala, with land for cultivation, allowing them to pay for it over a 20-year period.

In 1980 the Duarte government carried out the land reform, and until then the civil war continued until 1992, when the "Peace Accords" were signed. During the war, coffee plantations were burned, infrastructure was destroyed, houses were set on fire, profits were disrupted, and electricity service was suspended. With the land reform, the land of Calderón Sol would be managed by the partners.

To re-establish the membership, they applied for credit from the Agricultural Development Bank, which would allow them to restart the cooperative. Although the war was at its peak, the credit could not be executed because of the difficulties, and payments were extended for several years. In 1990, all the infrastructure began to be rebuilt, and at that time coffee was sold entirely in parchment.

In 2000 the cooperative began to see benefits, and that year employees received housing and gained electricity and drinking water services. Community work included school containment walls and management of and loans from the Ministry of Education to establish community schools. (The people working in the cooperative were not partners.) They also supported the installation of drinking water for settlers, provided transportation for medical consultations, and gave medical support to children attending school. In addition, they obtained space to build 3 churches. Today the company produces 3,000 to 5,000 hundredweight of coffee, of which 70% is sold to the European market and 30% is roasted and ground coffee processed by the pound and distributed within the region.

Brewing Recommendation

FrontStreet Coffee suggests brewing with water at 90-91°C, which brings out flavors of peach, apricot, cranberry, vanilla, sugarcane, and green grapes.

FrontStreet Coffee Recommendation

This Pacamara lot is honey processed, a method that grew out of the older semi-washed approach: the skin is removed before drying, which shortens the drying days while avoiding the off-flavors that poor fermentation can create. Brazil's classic semi-washed coffees were the first to show how well this works, with their distinct cream, peanut, nut, and chocolate notes, and Costa Rica then refined the idea into honey processing proper. By varying how much mucilage is left on the bean and how long it dries, producers split honey processing into black, red, yellow, and white honey. The more mucilage retained, the longer and more delicate the drying: black honey keeps almost all of the mucilage and dries for at least two weeks, under cover to keep the sun from drying it too quickly, with the cherries turned at intervals so they ferment evenly.

FrontStreet's Costa Rica Blackberry is made with this black-honey method and roasted medium-light, releasing a deep floral fragrance when ground and pouring flavors of grape, berry, and ripe blackberry. If you love the sweet, jammy side of honey processing, FrontStreet's Strawberry Candy Geisha blend combines Panama Geisha, which contributes its classic orange-blossom honey character, with a Costa Rican lot processed as raisin honey that keeps 100% of the mucilage and uses a zero-water method. The cherries are floated, dried on raised beds for at least three days, then depulped with the mucilage intact and dried further while being turned constantly, giving a cup with Geisha's floral tea notes alongside grape, raisin, soft fruit acidity, an almond finish, and pronounced sweetness. FrontStreet's Costa Rica Mozart, also made with the raisin-honey method, rounds out the range with osmanthus, pineapple, and raisin aromatics that shine in pour-over, cold brew, or a moka pot.