How does the coffee from El Salvador taste? How are the raw coffee beans in El Salvador graded?

Coffee taste

El Salvador's bourbon coffee is famous for its sweetness and balance, with pleasant supple acidity and overall harmony.

El Salvador began to grow coffee commercially in the 1850s and became the fourth largest coffee producer in the world in 1880, becoming an important source of economy and a major export crop in El Salvador. But the civil war broke out in the 1980s, which reduced coffee production, and the market was also looking for other sources of coffee exports.

However, the civil war had a positive impact on the quality of coffee in El Salvador, which did not change the original species of coffee into improved varieties with high yield, as in neighboring countries in the same period, but maintained a high proportion of primary bourbon-planted coffee trees in the country. in addition, the volcanic ash-based soil is rich in minerals, which makes the coffee produced excellent taste and great potential, but there is less organic matter in the soil. Therefore, farmers in Saudi Arabia will use the pulp residue of the treated coffee beans or the organic matter under the coffee trees as fertilizers to make up for the lack of organic matter in the soil, so that the planting of coffee trees can produce coffee beans with mixed taste.

El Salvador still sometimes uses the elevation of coffee growth to classify coffee, which has nothing to do with its quality:

Strictly High Grown (SHG) over 1200 m above sea level

High Grown (HG) over 900m above sea level

Central Standard is over 600m above sea level

In 1949, Don Alberto Pacas discovered the bourbon variety Pacas on his estate, and then crossed with Maragogype elephant beans to cultivate the famous Pacamara species.

History

In the early 1990s, guerrilla warfare greatly damaged the country's national economy, reducing coffee production from 3.5 million bags in the early 1970s to 2.5 million bags in 1990-1991. The eastern part of the country was most affected by guerrilla warfare, and many farmers and workers were forced to leave the manor. The shortage of funds has led to a sharp drop in coffee production, from 1200 kg per hectare in the past to less than 900kg per hectare today.

In addition, the government imposed an additional 15% tariff on exported coffee in 1986, that is, an additional 15% in addition to the existing 30% tax. Taxes, together with unfavorable exchange rates, have greatly reduced the export of coffee and the quality of coffee. The government finally realized the great role of coffee in the national economy, such as solving employment, earning foreign exchange and developing agriculture, so it privatized some coffee export industries in 1990, hoping to increase the income rate of coffee in the export market.

In Cuscacbapa, El Salvador, packaged coffee beans are about to be exported to El Salvador. Coffee from El Salvador is a specialty of Central America, where it is light, aromatic, pure and slightly sour. Like Guatemala and Costa Rica, Salvadoran coffee is graded according to altitude, and the higher the altitude, the better the coffee. The best brand is Pipil, the Azbec-Mayan name for coffee, which has been approved by the American Organic Certification Society (Organic CertifiedInstitute of America).