Summary
A superb double soaked El Salvador with notes of cherries and red berry. It delivers superb espresso cups, very juicy and yummy.
The finer details
The origin
High up on the north face of Volcan de Santa Ana, Buenos Aires, there is one of the best coffee areas of El Salvador. It’s a tight-knit community where farmers help to harvest each other’s cherries. Finca Monteleon is a project of an El Salvadorian producer, Jose Antonio Salaverria and his two sons Andres and Jose Antonio. They are now at the 6th generation of coffee producers. The ancestors started with coffee in Huachapan. Jose Antonio Senior was offered a house from his father in 1970, but told him he wanted a farm instead. And he was given Finca Los Nogales, that’s still in the family. Since then Jose Antonio has started a few other farms. Monteleon is one of these: with its 26 hectares grown at about 1400 masl it is a medium sized farm that operates through strict lot separation to achieve superior quality.
The cultivar
This farm is all about old Bourbon trees. This lot is composed of highly selected 100% traditional Bourbon: over the last years this farm always delivered classic, sweet and rich super high quality Salvadorian Bourbons.
The process
The most impressive aspect of coffees from Salaverria is the overall quality of picking: deep blood red and uniform color. Considering the volumes they are doing in total it is pretty amazing! This producer is innovative in ways of processing and farming. It in fact keeps separated each and every lot by picking day and do different processes, fermentation and drying techniques depending on the potential of the particular lot.
The double Soak method. Within hours of the cherry being harvested, the cerries are repulsed at the mill to leave only a small layer of sweet mucilage left around the bean. The coffee is then put in a fermentation tank where enzymes in about half day break down the residual mucilage. The beans are then washed in channels to completely remove the residual mucilage, as you would do for a washed coffee. With the Double Soak method, the beans are further moved into a tank to soak for an additional 24-hours in fresh water. The tank is then emptied, and the process is repeated: the tank is filled again and the coffee is soaked for another 24 hours.
After the second soak, the coffee is moved to the drying patios.The drying times are managed by building up layers and resting the coffees in piles.
In the cup
Sweet with dark cherry notes, red berries, florals. Soft and rich, it delivers good mouthfeel and intensity. It works very well as espresso, where the cup is just juicy and yummy: an as good as very easy-to-like coffee. Really balanced, pleasant and solid.
