El Salvador has an interesting relationship with coffee, whose modern history began when the Central American nation started with large-scale production sometime in the 1870s. Coffee quickly became one of El Salvador’s most prominent industries, making up around 90% of the nation’s exports by the 1880s. The El Salvadorian coffee industry was so successful and its key players so influential that coffee actually contributed significantly to infrastructural development, and was thereby partially responsible for making El Salvador one of the most developed Central American countries of the early 1900s. On the flip side though, most of the industry at the time was controlled by the nation’s established ruling-class, who used its influence to gain and maintain political power.

Due to a number of sociopolitical complications, including the civil war of the 1980s and the 2001 global coffee price crisis, coffee is not as economically dominant in El Salvador as it once was. It does, however, still remain as one of the country’s more prominent export commodities. While coffees from El Salvador can offer notes from across the flavour spectrum, they are typically known for a full body and sweetness with a comparatively mild acidity. These particular qualities make El Salvadorian coffees quite popular in blends, where they can level out and soften more acidic beans while bringing their more pleasant flavours forward.

This lot is of the Pacamara variety, a cross between Pacas and Maraogype grown across Central America and famous the world over for its distinct fruity and floral flavours. Pacamara yields are typically quite small, and these are trimmed further when any beans deemed too small are removed by hand. This is why Pacamara yields are generally produced in microlots. This particular Quaffee offering promises stone-fruit flavours and a black tea body, with a chocolatey-citrus finish. This particular Quaffee offering promises stone-fruit flavours and a black tea body, with a chocolatey-citrus finish.

Phaedon’s tasting notes

To my palate, this coffee offers much of what we would look for in a high-quality coffee from El Salvador. It's mild in acidity, nutty, sweet and pretty full-bodied. There are some subtle hints of fruit, mingling with the sweetness. I picked up ripe nectarine as well as whispers of orange. This isn't a very fruity coffee though; what you'll appreciate is the balance, sweetness and body. I found best results with all my immersion brews, where these characteristics really came to the fore. It also will make a sensational moka pot or espresso.

Quaffee’s notes

• Taste Profile: Peach, black tea that becomes dark chocolate, sweet orange finish.
• Roast Used: Medium charge with a decreasing ramp rate until the end of the roast, with 12% dev time.
• Roast degree: Light
• Quaffee brews:
• Espresso: 1:2.1(28 sec)
• AeroPress: 17.5g:200g
• Plunger: 24g:400g
• Pour over/filter: 18.5g:300g

Coffee details from Quaffee

• Producer: Los Naranjos, Sigfredo Corado
• Country: El Salvador
• Region: Ahuachapán
• Farm: Finca Los Angeles
• Altitude: 1350+ masl
• Processing: Washed, sun-dried on raised beds for ~25 days.
• Species/Variety: Arabica Pacamara
• Packaging: Hessian with Grain Pro inside

“Tucked away in the Ahuachapán mountains of western El Salvador, Finca Los Angeles is a proud member of the Los Naranjos group. The farm extends over 40 acres, exclusively cultivating the Pacamara variety of Arabica coffee. Furthermore, the farm consists of 23 Manzanas, each hosting around 3,000 coffee trees. To safeguard these trees, the farm strategically employs shade trees and wind barriers. Additionally, graduates from a local technical school manage the farm’s daily operations, under the leadership of Sigfredo Corado, a retired agronomy professor.

Furthermore, Finca Los Angeles actively participates in the Renacer Program, which translates to “Reborn” in Spanish. This program operates as a technical school that boosts the farm management skills of local coffee growers. It receives funding from Raices, a local initiative, with additional support from Catholic Relief Services.

For over ten years, Sigfredo has dedicated himself to the farm, with a singular focus on Pacamara coffee cultivation. Under his stewardship, the farm has abandoned the use of herbicides, opting instead to enrich the soil through natural means. The farm’s layout includes several plots, each protected by shade and windbreaks.”

Quaffee's transparency information

• FOB Price: $10.97 / kg
• Cupping score: 86 (And sons’ score)
• Producer/Organisation: Finca Los Angeles
• Lot size bought: 1 x 34.5 kg bag
• Relationship: Quaffee’s relationship with Finca Los Angeles goes back to 2013; this is their first coffee from Sigfredo Corado.