How is El Salvador Finca El Olivo Kenya SL28_El Salvador Finca El Olivo Coffee Beans

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El Salvador

Geographical Location

El Salvador is home to numerous volcanoes, earning it the name "Land of Volcanoes." The fertile volcanic soil provides an excellent source of nutrients for coffee beans. Coffee trees are cultivated at altitudes of 1,000-1,200 meters in cool and suitable temperatures, creating an ideal geographical environment for growing Arabica coffee.

Located in the heart of Central America, El Salvador is one of the world's oldest coffee origins, renowned for producing Bourbon, Pacas, and Pacamara coffee varieties. Coffee estates are distributed across the most fertile soil areas of hills and volcanic slopes, mainly concentrated in six producing regions: Alotepec, Apaneca, El Bálsamo, Chichontepec, Tepaca, and Cacahuatique, covering an area of 161,000 hectares. Due to its special volcanic terrain and soil, El Salvador coffee possesses unique characteristics—mellow flavor, balanced sweetness and acidity, rich aroma, and captivating nuances.

Olive Tree Estate

Olive Tree Estate began cultivating coffee in 1930, surrounding the famous "LOS VOLCANES" (Volcano Cluster) National Park in El Salvador. Rare volcanic flowers grow around the farm, along with wild animals from the national park such as domesticated deer, raccoons, and wild boars, forming an interesting wildlife ecosystem. Since 2016, Olive Tree Estate has been a completely organic farm with Rainforest Alliance certification. Coffee production is managed using traditional methods, washed with clear water, and dried in clay courtyards.

Olive Tree Estate cultivates coffee using El Salvador's century-old heritage methods. Local Ingas trees, pomelo trees, and olive trees serve as shade trees, with over 75 tree species creating interlaced natural forests and coffee trees. This combination with volcanic soil nourishment creates this beautiful coffee garden. Since the estate is situated on a volcano, it benefits from extremely fertile volcanic land. In 2006, the Ilamapepec volcano erupted, and volcanic ash directly covered the estate. Although the coffee garden was damaged at the time, years later, the fertile volcanic soil coverage created an even richer soil growth environment for the estate.

Varieties

Kenya SL-28 is one of the two most respected varieties produced by Kenya's Scott Laboratories in the 1930s. Although Scott Laboratories no longer exists, it is now the National Agricultural Laboratory, part of the Kenya Agricultural and Livestock Research Organization. Both varieties are Bourbon derivatives, though from different lineages: SL-28 was developed from drought-resistant varieties originally planted in Tanganyika (part of modern Tanzania); it is generally considered the highest quality but has lower yields compared to other commercial Arabica varieties.

Kenya SL28 is one of the most famous and popular varieties in Africa. In recent years, it has been known for its remarkable blackcurrant and bright fruit acidity, making it the most representative variety with the highest attention after Geisha. In fact, SL28 did not originate in Kenya—just as Geisha originated in Ethiopia but achieved superstar status in Panama, SL28 has similar potential, ready to shine from its cultivation grounds in Kenya to major coffee-producing countries.

Kenya SL28 is a direct Bourbon descendant selected and cultivated in Kenya by French and British missionaries and researchers in the early 20th century, with mixed lineage from French Mission, Mocha, and Yemen Typica. High sweetness, delicate balance, prominent citrus and plum flavors, strong and rich fruit acidity, full body, and beautiful balance—these are the distinctive coffee flavor characteristics of Kenya SL28.

SL28 Kenya variety was obtained by the estate from friends and planted in the coffee garden. In this volcanic soil at 1800-1950m altitude, unlike the wild characteristics of Africa, when cultivated in El Salvador, it presents moist tropical fruits like peach, sweet orange, white peach, passion fruit, and sweet tangerine, combined with almond tea, infused with fruit tea flavors, and a gentle sweet aftertaste. It is a coffee that is both gentle and unrestrained.

Processing Method

Sorting coffee cherries — removing pulp — fermentation — washing — drying — hulling

Place the sorted coffee cherries into a depulper to initially remove their skin and pulp; put the coffee beans with residual pulp and mucilage into water to ferment for about 24 hours; after fermentation, place the parchment coffee beans into flowing water channels to wash away their pulp and mucilage; after washing, dry the coffee beans in the sun or use a dryer to reduce moisture content to about 12%. Finally, remove the parchment from the coffee beans.

Finca Montes El Corazo

El Salvador · Olive Tree Estate

Estate: Olive Tree Estate

Altitude: 1800-1950M

Variety: Kenya SL28

Processing: Washed

Grade: SHB

Flavor: Lemon, nuts, berries, citrus, cream

Brewing

FrontStreet Coffee recommended brewing method

Recommended brewing method: Pour-over

Dripper: V60

Water temperature: 88-90°C

Coffee-to-water ratio: 1:15

Grind size: BG 5R (58% pass-through rate on Chinese standard #20 sieve), i.e., medium-fine grind

Brewing technique: Segmented extraction. Use 33g of water for a 30-second bloom, then continue pouring with a small circular flow to 125g before segmenting. When the water level drops and is about to expose the coffee bed, continue pouring to 228g and stop. When the water level drops and is about to expose the coffee bed again, remove the dripper. (Timing starts from the beginning of bloom) Extraction time: 1'56".

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