Rainforest Alliance Certified 2012 COE 5th Place | El Salvador Los Pirineos Estate Pacamara Yellow Honey

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Rainforest Alliance Certified 2012 COE 5th Place | What are the flavor notes of El Salvador Los Pirineos Estate Pacamara Yellow Honey Process?

Los Pirineos Estate is renowned in the specialty coffee industry, not only for having won 8 El Salvador Cup of Excellence awards, but also because estate owner Gilberto Baraona's passion for coffee and tireless experimentation with varieties and processing methods. With over 90 different coffee varieties and 8 different processing methods, Los Pirineos has become almost an experimental farm favored by roasters.

Located at the highest elevations of the Tecapa Volcano in southeastern El Salvador, Los Pirineos is named after the Pyrenees mountains on the border between France and Spain. Gilberto Baraona's family has been operating this estate since 1890, for over a hundred years.

Los Pirineos is a beautiful estate with excellent microclimate conditions, slow cherry maturation, good rainfall, and fertile volcanic soil. The processing station is situated between two mountains with good sunlight and ventilation, making it ideal for uniform drying.

Over the past five years, Gilberto has replanted 200,000 coffee trees. He has invested tremendous passion in improving coffee cultivation, harvesting, and processing methods. Starting from 2012, he built more raised beds with shade nets to allow for gentler and longer drying processes. In addition to the existing Bourbon, Typica, Pacas, and Pacamara varieties, he plans to produce 10 new varieties by 2017, including Orange Pacamara, Geisha, Original Bourbon, Laurina, Java, and Kenya. At altitudes below 1200 meters, he produces new hybrid varieties including Castillo Naranjal, Costa Rica 95, Lempira, Obata, and Casiopea.

All cherries are harvested by hand, with only mature cherries selected. However, after harvesting and before processing, they undergo another screening step to remove underripe or overripe beans. All pulp and skin generated during processing are recycled, catalyzed using California red worms as organic compost material, and returned to the coffee trees. Los Pirineos has Rainforest Alliance certification and was one of the first estates in El Salvador to receive it, with all rainwater naturally filtered.

Gilberto's approach to honey processing is unique. During the depulping stage, he retains all the mucilage and places it directly on African raised beds. Different honey processes—Yellow Honey, Red Honey, and Black Honey—are mainly distinguished by different drying methods.

Taking this Pacamara Yellow Honey process as an example, after removing the pulp, it's placed on African raised beds for full sun exposure. However, during the first three days, it must be turned every twenty minutes, followed by 10 turns daily until the moisture content reaches 12%, resulting in very sweet yellow honey flavor notes.

For Red Honey drying, there is no turning at all during the first three days, allowing more intense fermentation, giving the beans a red appearance and making them stick together, followed by 10 turns daily. Black Honey is different again—with turning every 20 minutes during the first three days, but under shade, followed by 10 turns per day. Black Honey drying is even slower, with chocolate flavor notes.

Estate Information

Region: Berlín; Usulutan; Tecapa-Chinameca

Estate: Los Pirineos

Owner: Gilberto Baraona

Mill: El Beneficio Los Pirineos

Area: 150 hectares

Altitude: 1550 meters

Variety: Pacamara

Process: Yellow Honey

Awards: 8-time El Salvador Cup of Excellence winner, 5th place in 2012

Certification: Rainforest Alliance Certified

Flavor Notes: Grape-like sweetness, toffee, hazelnut, hops

FrontStreet Coffee Recommended Brewing:

Dripper: Hario V60

Water Temperature: 90-91°C

Grind Size: Fuji Royal grind setting 3.5 (64% pass-through rate on China #20 sieve)

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

Analysis: Using a three-stage brewing method to clearly express the front, middle, and back-end flavor notes of the coffee. Because V60 has many ribs and faster drainage, pausing during pouring helps extend the extraction time.

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