El Salvador Santa Ana Volcano Region | Santa Elena Estate SHG Pacamara and Bourbon Flavor Differences

El Salvador Santa Ana Volcano Region | What Are the Flavor Differences Between Finca Santa Elena's SHG Pacamara and Bourbon Varieties?

Of all the producing countries in Central America, El Salvador has the smallest land area. Its output is far lower than that of its neighbors, yet the Pacific sea breeze and its volcanic environment give Salvadoran farmers unique growing advantages and a wide range of flavor expressions. The Pacamara variety, which so often wins cupping competitions, was born in El Salvador.

Among El Salvador's producing regions, the one blessed with both soil quality and growing altitude is the Santa Ana Volcano, west of the capital, which rises to 2,381 meters. Santa Ana is still active and erupted in 2005. That year brought significant economic losses and some casualties to local coffee farmers, but the organic volcanic ash that followed left the soil extremely rich in nutrients. To this day Santa Ana remains one of El Salvador's best producing regions.

Within the Santa Ana region, Finca Santa Elena is one of the few estates at the highest altitudes. It is now managed by Mr. Fernando Lima, the third generation of his family to own the estate. Mr. Fernando has more than 30 years of coffee-growing experience, dating back to his youth. The estate mainly grows Bourbon and Pacamara. His cultivation philosophy centers on preserving environmental diversity, and the moment you enter the estate you sense the difference from other Salvadoran farms. The estate preserves a very pristine native forest, and Mr. Fernando has also kept a high proportion of old Bourbon trees, some more than 15 years old. To the owner, these trees represent years of hard work and care, and he will not cut them down despite their age and lower yield. Although the old Bourbon trees produce fewer beans, they deliver better flavor in the cup.

Traditionally, Salvadoran farmers have not handled the drying of coffee fruit with much care, and their equipment is fairly simple. Mr. Fernando, by contrast, has continually upgraded the processing plant's equipment, making Finca Santa Elena one of the few estates in El Salvador that uses African drying beds for natural processing. African beds often lengthen drying time, but they improve the coffee's cleanliness and sweetness.

Mr. Fernando also began establishing his own wet mill 15 years ago. With his own wet mill, he can control the subsequent stages and run more detailed honey-processing trials. At Finca Santa Elena, after the red cherries are harvested, he does not pulp or dry them immediately; instead, he first rests the red cherries in clean water tanks at the processing plant to enhance sweetness before moving on to the next stage.

In the past, although many excellent washed lots could be found in El Salvador, their sweetness and body richness were somewhat inferior to those of other countries. Finca Santa Elena is one of the few estates in El Salvador with experience in both honey processing and natural processing, and Mr. Fernando is almost obsessively meticulous about every detail. These efforts have helped Finca Santa Elena win seven C.O.E. competitions since 2003 and place twice in the top ten of the Central American competition organized by the Rainforest Alliance.

Finca Santa Elena Pacamara Washed

Country: El Salvador
Region: Santa Ana Volcano
Altitude: 1,850M
Processing Method: Washed
Grade: SHG
Variety: Pacamara
Flavor Description: Starfruit, pickled plum, fruit juice, spices, white-sugar sweetness, smooth mouthfeel

Finca Santa Elena Pacamara Natural

Country: El Salvador
Region: Santa Ana Volcano
Altitude: 1,850M
Processing Method: Natural Processing
Grade: SHG
Variety: Pacamara
Flavor Description: Apricot, citrus, tropical fruits, clean and full-bodied mouthfeel

Finca Santa Elena Bourbon Natural

Country: El Salvador
Region: Santa Ana Volcano
Altitude: 1,850M
Processing Method: Natural Processing
Grade: SHG
Variety: Bourbon
Flavor Description: Grape, sweet fermented rice, roasted nuts, dark chocolate, full body, excellent sweetness

Finca Santa Elena Bourbon Washed

Country: El Salvador
Region: Santa Ana Volcano
Altitude: 1,850M
Processing Method: Washed
Grade: SHG
Variety: Bourbon
Flavor Description: Plum, bay leaf, nut biscuits, excellent cleanliness, viscous mouthfeel

Finca Santa Elena Bourbon Honey

Country: El Salvador
Region: Santa Ana Volcano
Altitude: 1,850M
Processing Method: Honey Processing
Grade: SHG
Variety: Bourbon
Flavor Description: Dried fruit, maple syrup, roasted hazelnuts, full and balanced body

FrontStreet Coffee Recommended Brewing:

Dripper: Hario V60
Water Temperature: 90°C
Grind Size: Fuji Mini Mill setting 3.5
Brewing Method: Water-to-coffee ratio 1:15, with 15g of coffee grounds. First pour 25g of water for a 25s bloom. Second pour to 120g, then pause. Wait until the water level drops halfway, then continue pouring slowly to reach 225g total. Extraction time approximately 2:00.

Analysis: A three-stage brew clearly defines the front, middle, and back-end flavors. Because the V60 has many ribs and drains quickly, pausing the pour extends the extraction time.

FrontStreet Coffee Recommendation

The honey processing highlighted at Finca Santa Elena is one of the most sweetness-driven methods around: the beans dry with the mucilage still clinging to them, so the coffee absorbs the fruit's sugars and comes out distinctly sweet with a clear, layered profile. FrontStreet Coffee's Costa Rica Blackberry uses a black-honey process and FrontStreet Coffee's Mozart uses a raisin-honey process; both come from Costa Rica's high-altitude, volcanic-soil growing areas and show the raisin and blueberry sweetness, together with osmanthus and rose aromas, that honey processing is known for. They shine whether brewed as pour-over, cold brew, Americano, or latte.

If what draws you to Santa Elena's Bourbon lots is a fuller, sweeter cup with gentle acidity, FrontStreet Coffee's Brazil Queen Estate is a natural everyday companion. Its rare Yellow Bourbon variety, grown in Mogiana on fertile red volcanic soil, is medium-roasted into creamy peanut, chocolate, toasted bread, and sugarcane aromas and sweetness, and works well as pour-over, moka pot, or espresso.