What Are the Characteristics of Salvadoran Coffee Beans What Makes Premium Salvadoran Coffee Beans

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Many coffee enthusiasts may not be familiar with the country of El Salvador. Located in Central America, El Salvador borders Guatemala and Honduras to the north, with its western and southern boundaries formed by the Pacific coastline. El Salvador is the smallest country in Central America by area and also the most densely populated. The terrain is primarily mountainous and plateau-like, with numerous volcanoes. The Santa Ana active volcano, at an elevation of 2,385 meters, is the country's highest peak. The northern region consists of the Lempa River valley, while the southern area features a narrow coastal plain.

Despite its small size, El Salvador has dozens of volcanoes, making it one of the most volcanically dense countries in the world, earning it the nickname "Land of Volcanoes." The country has a relatively high average elevation, creating geographical conditions highly favorable for coffee cultivation. The western region of El Salvador, near Guatemala, is the main coffee-producing area.

Climate Characteristics

El Salvador has a tropical savanna climate. The plains region experiences a tropical rainforest climate, while the mountainous areas have a subtropical forest climate. The average annual temperature ranges from 25-28°C. Mountainous areas receive over 1,800 millimeters of rainfall annually, while coastal regions receive about 1,000 millimeters. The rainy season runs from May to October.

Don't underestimate El Salvador's coffee bean production. At its peak, it was once the world's fourth-largest coffee-producing country. However, decades of civil war nearly devastated the coffee industry. Fortunately, in recent years, conflicts have ceased and the coffee industry has regained vitality. The only benefit the civil war brought to El Salvador was that farmers abandoned their fields, failing to catch the trend of Catimor sun-dried cultivation that has been popular over the past twenty years. This preserved ancient Bourbon and Typica varieties. In other words, El Salvador coffee beans are still grown using the most traditional shade-grown methods.

This has positive implications for coffee aroma enhancement. In 2005, El Salvador's hybrid variety Pacamara made a spectacular showing in the Cup of Excellence (COE), confusing many international cuppers who didn't know how to score it. Unexpectedly, this hybrid bean not only broke existing boundaries of coffee richness but also increased El Salvador's visibility in the coffee world.

El Salvador's specialty coffee is concentrated in the western Santa Ana region and the northwestern Chalatenango volcanic rock area. In recent years, the top ten winners in cupping competitions have almost all come from these two regions. With elevations of approximately 900-1,500 meters, the main variety is Bourbon (accounting for 68%), followed by Pacas (29%), while hybrid varieties Pacamara, Duchila, and Caturra account for only 3%.

El Salvador's coffee harvest season runs from November through March of the following year. All coffee cherries are harvested by hand. Most coffee cultivation in El Salvador is done by small-scale farmers who use traditional growing methods: almost 100% shade-grown cultivation. The coffee harvest season runs from November through March of the following year. All coffee cherries are harvested by hand.

Overall, El Salvador coffee inherits the mild quality characteristics of Central American coffee, being overall gentle and slightly acidic with pleasant sweetness. At the same time, it has its own distinctive characteristics: the aromatic flavor has a slight acidity that is very gentle; it's pure without any off-flavors, with excellent balance; the creamy, chocolate-like smoothness is impressive; the dense mouthfeel gives the coffee depth of flavor and a long, lingering aftertaste.

Pacamara Variety Introduction

Pacamara coffee is a hybrid variety discovered in El Salvador in the 1950s, created by crossing Pacas (a natural mutation of Bourbon) with the large-bean variety Maragogype (Elephant Bean).

It was first cultivated by Salvadoran researchers in 1958. Pacamara is a rare, excellent variety developed through artificial selection that surpasses its parent varieties. It perfectly inherits the advantages of both parent plants: it has Pacas' excellent flavor profile while also inheriting Maragogype's large bean size. The beans are at least 70-80% the size of Elephant Beans, with 100% reaching 17 screen size or above and 90% reaching 18 screen size or above. The average bean length is 1.03 centimeters (compared to 0.8-0.85 cm for regular beans), average width is 0.71 centimeters (compared to 0.6-0.65 cm for regular beans), and thickness reaches 0.37 centimeters. The beans are full and round. The variety's most distinctive characteristic is its lively, sophisticated acidity, sometimes with biscuit aromas and sometimes with fruity notes, along with excellent body and mouthfeel. The best quality comes from El Salvador and Guatemala.

Finca Ataisi Estate Introduction

Finca Ataisi Estate is located in the volcanic region of Izalco, Sonsonate Province, El Salvador. Due to volcanic activity, the estate's soil contains very rich organic matter. The estate has an average elevation of approximately 1,800 meters and steep terrain, making it one of the highest-elevation estates in the area. The estate is currently managed by owner Rene Martin, whose philosophy is to maintain El Salvador's original traditional cultivation methods. Beyond necessary pruning and irrigation, the estate maintains large areas of natural agroforestry ecosystems. Over 90% of the estate is planted with the Pacamara variety.

In addition to excellent cultivation practices, Finca Ataisi Estate has its own coffee washing processing facilities. This not only avoids price exploitation from outsourcing but also allows for more meticulous handling of carefully selected coffee cherries. Rene Martin is very rigorous about the washing process, not only recording daily temperature and humidity but also paying close attention to the processing of coffee beans in the fermentation tanks.

Recommended Single Origin: El Salvador Finca Ataisi Washed Pacamara

• Country: El Salvador
• Certification: Rainforest Alliance Certified
• Region: Izalco area, Sonsonate Province
• Grade: SHG (Strictly High Grown)
• Processing: Washed fermentation, sun-dried
• Elevation: 1,800 meters
• Variety: Pacamara

Cupping Report

Dry Aroma: Spices, passion fruit aroma, hazelnut-like nuts, berries

Wet Aroma: Nutty chocolate, sweet and sour passion fruit, creamy chocolate, strawberry aftertaste, nuts

Slurping:

The entry is very delicate and silky, with clear, gentle fruit acidity gliding across the tongue. Like all Pacamara characteristics, it's quiet and soft. The mid-palate reveals fresh wild berry acidity and hazelnut-like nutty aromas, with distinct caramel sweetness in the finish. The aftertaste feels delicately smooth and sweet. The aftertaste is persistent with a long throat feel, suitable for careful appreciation on quiet nights.

FrontStreet Coffee recommends brewing method: Pour-over

Dripper: Hario V60. Because Pacamara beans have rich, layered flavors, FrontStreet Coffee suggests using the fast-flowing V60 dripper for brewing to highlight their rich layers.

Water Temperature: 90°C. Due to the light roast level, FrontStreet Coffee recommends using higher temperature water for brewing.

Coffee-to-Water Ratio: 1:15-1:16. Because the flavor layers are rich, FrontStreet Coffee recommends choosing a larger coffee-to-water ratio for brewing. Increased water volume reduces the coffee concentration, allowing the flavor layers to be better expressed.

Grind Size: Medium-fine grind. Due to the light roast level, FrontStreet Coffee recommends using a medium-fine grind for brewing.

Brewing Technique: Multi-stage extraction. Use a multi-stage approach to slow down the V60 dripper's flow rate, increasing extraction from the coffee grounds. This technique also results in distinctly layered flavor profiles in the extracted coffee liquid.

Sharing FrontStreet Coffee's brewing technique: 29g of water for a 32-second bloom, then pour to 120g for the first stage. When the water level drops and is about to expose the coffee bed, continue pouring to 226g and stop. When the water level drops and is about to expose the coffee bed again, remove the dripper. (Timing starts from the bloom) Total extraction time is 1 minute 56 seconds.

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