What are the characteristics of El Salvador bourbon coffee? What kind of coffee can represent the flavor of Saudi Arabia?

Country: El Salvador

Producing area: Apaneca-Irametepec

Farm: St. Matteau

Variety: bourbon

Treatment: honey treatment

Flavor: balance, green apple, taffy

Apaneca-Irametepec

The Apaneca-Ilamatepec Mountains extend throughout the Ahuachapan,Santa Ana and Sonsonate departments in northwestern El Salvador, bordering Guatemala. The first coffee seeds from Guatemala entered El Salvador at the end of the 18th century. Coffee production in El Salvador begins in these mountains and eventually extends to other parts of the country.

The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization announced the establishment of the Apaneca-Arabetepec Biosphere Reserve in 2007. The biosphere reserve includes forest plantations, coffee plantations, grasslands and crops. There are 12 endangered plants and 58 endangered species, as well as 12 endemic species of birds and other animals.

The protected areas include wetlands that provide fresh water to the country: Lake Kotpeck, Laguna Cape Verde and Laguna Rasnifas. Due to current volcanic activity, they have aquatic vegetation ecosystems and aquifer recharge areas.

Nearly 4000 hectares of land are allocated as nature reserves, while 39500 hectares correspond to shaded coffee plantations that connect the core areas to each other, thus enabling the movement of flora and fauna, thus becoming an essential part of the Central American Biological Corridor.

Finca Santa Matilde is located in the Appachaka-Irametepec Mountains and Concepci ó nde Ataco in Ahuachapan County, a coffee region of the same name. In the late 1700s, farmers in Ahuachapan first planted seeds from Guatemala to grow coffee in El Salvador, and then officially began production in the 1800s.

Santa Matilde is currently owned by the fifth generation coffee producers of the Ariz-Herrera family, making it one of the first farms in the Concepci ó nde Ataco region to grow specialty coffee, which began in 1875. And communities around the farm have been employed for more than 100 years. The Ariz-Herrera family is one of five local families that founded FUNDATACO in 1991. The foundation helps children in the area attend football schools and seek sports opportunities and scholarships.

Santa Matilde's coffee is partially processed in Germania, a small factory on the farm, which is equipped with desizing agent, washing equipment and drying equipment. Santa Matilde pulps freshly harvested cherries without water to retain all the mucus and then dry them on an elevated bed for up to 14 days to achieve the best conditions. After drying, the coffee will be stored in the El Carmens warehouse, where the Santa Matilde coffee will be dried and ready for export.

Some coffee can also be dried on the clay terrace in El Carmens. Coffee dries faster on this hot surface, where honey-processed coffee takes up to 14 days to dry, and then transferred to the warehouse for buyback rest.

Santa Matilde's coffee quality has won wide recognition, including ranking first in the El Salvador Cup of Excellence in 2018 and 2019. Their enthusiasm for providing quality coffee promotes their innovation and development of quality coffee as well as the sustainable development of the community.