Introduction to the balanced and soft flavor of El Salvador boutique coffee

The chaos caused by the civil war affected economic development, but ironically allowed the ancient coffee species to remain. The situation was too chaotic for Salvadoran coffee farmers to catch up with the trend of coffee variety renewal in Central and South America.

El Salvador produces 100% Arabica coffee, of which 68% is Bourbon (Coffea arabica var. Bourbon), 29% Pacas, the rest include Pacamara, Caturra, etc.

Pacas, first discovered in Salvador in 1949, is a natural hybrid of Bourbon and Catula.

Pacamara, an artificially selected variety of pacas and maragogipe (or maragogype), was first bred in 1958 (one said 1954). Pacamara is a rare excellent variety under artificial breeding. Green is better than blue. It perfectly inherits the advantages of the mother plant. It has the excellent taste of pacas and the big size of malagogipe. Pacamara species are thought to be the result of the pursuit of larger Arabica species.

coffee planting

Most are grown by small farmers. Classification of Salvadoran farmers: (1 htct= 105 mu = 10000 square meters)

Small farmer, small producer, area less than 7.0 hect;

Medium farmer, medium producer, area between 7.0-70hect;

Large farmer, large producer, area greater than 70hect.

Farmers use traditional planting methods with almost 100% shade. Coffee production status

"Natural disasters" and "bad luck" are the words that describe the challenges facing El Salvador's coffee industry. Although it has escaped the shadow of war, El Salvador's coffee production still faces challenges from time to time, including: hurricane in 1998; earthquake in 2001; volcanic eruption in 2002; and leaf rust in 2012.

Despite these challenges, El Salvador has maintained a high coffee production, consistently ranking in the top 15 of ICO member countries for total coffee production between 2008 and 2012, according to ICO International Coffee Organization data. In 2013, affected by leaf rust disaster, 70% of farms in China were infected, and the yield dropped sharply by about 40%, ranking down to 16.

El Salvador 08-13 Total coffee production and ranking (unit: 000 bags, 60kg per bag)

Salvadoran coffee accounts for 40 per cent of the country's exports and is picked in November and December and from January to March of the following year. Green bean exports continue almost throughout the year. Coffee is produced in seven of the country's 14 departments, with chalatenango and santa ana in the north-west the most abundant. El Salvador produces 100% Arabica coffee, 68% of which is bourbon, and bourbon coffee is usually grown at altitudes of 1062 - 1972 meters. El Salvador's unique mountainous river plateau terrain provides a suitable environment for the growth of Bourbon coffee. At the same time, El Salvador's suitable temperature and abundant rainfall and fertile soil are also indispensable natural conditions for breeding high-quality coffee beans. Salvadoran coffee, like other typical island beans, is balanced, soft and good in texture