El Salvador: San Jose, Elefante

This very small lot resulted from a very lucky varietal observation inside Gloria’s own farms by her son-in-law, Luis Rodriguez. It's worth saying here that Luis is a true expert on coffee and processing. As well as being involved in growing coffee, he also works in QC and this year has headed up National Juries for Cup of Excellence.

Some years ago now, at Finca San José, while walking around the farm checking for ripeness, Luis ended up in front of a huge cluster of cherries which grabbed his attention. He realized that this, right here, was a very interesting tree. With the help of Gloria, Maria Jose and Antonio, he harvested roughly twelve kilos of cherries that they called 'Bourbon on steroids', which were then hand-processed by Antonio.

Everything about this plant phenotype fascinated him and he concluded this was something to definitely follow up on. One of the most interesting features he noticed was the amount of mucilage inside each cherry, which was just over twice as much as in other varieties found at the farm.

After a few weeks Antonio had a sample processed and ready enough to cup. After a small cupping performed at their house Luis fell in love with the amazing fruit character and sweetness behind this puzzling varietal.

This is a spritzy and refreshing coffee with notes of elderflower, zingy lemon and apricot. A lingering white grape on the aftertaste completes this refined, elegant cup.

• Country: El Salvador
• Department: Ahuachapán
• Municipality: Apaneca
• Nearest city: El Saitillal
• Farm: Finca San José
• Owner: Gloria Rodriguez
• Farm manager: Antonio Avelino
• Processing method: Washed
• Varietal: Elefante
• Altitude: 1,500 m.a.s.l.
• Average annual rainfall: 2,500mm
• Average temperature: 17ºC
• Type of soil: Clay loam
• Type of shade: Pepeto, inga sp, and other native trees
• Typical native fauna: Armadillo, gray fox, agouti, pocket gopher, magpie, turquoise-browed motmot

Tasting notes: Elderflower, lemon, apricot, white grape.

Cup of Excellence Cupping Scores

• Clean cup: (1–8): 7
• Sweetness: (1–8): 6.5
• Acidity: (1–8): 7
• Mouthfeel: (1–8): 6
• Flavour: (1–8): 7
• Aftertaste: (1–8): 6
• Balance: (1–8): 6
• Overall: (1–8): 7
• Correction: (+36): +36
• Total: (max. 100): 88.5

Roast Information
Medium - Push this through the gap and up to the edge of second, but keep it light enough to show the coffees beautiful complexity.

If you place an order before 07:30, it will be roasted and dispatched that day. If you order after 07:30, it will carry over to the following working day for roasting.

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