EL SALVADOR table grapes ∙ plum ∙ peach
In 2014 Ismael Recinos won the Cup of Excellence, the most recognized competition of coffee farmers.
This coffee comes from the same
farm, shares the same honey processing method and is the same variety: Pacamara
O
ne thing is sure: the coffees submitted and winning the Cup of Excellence all represent exceptional quality. Our roastery has the same expectations of good quality as this prestigious competition. Ismael Recinos Flores came second in Cup of Excellence in 2014, and although now it’s 2016, his approach to coffee production has not changed at all. Since the introduction of Cup of Excellence in 2003, the small farmers of El Salvador have always been held in high regard. An additional benefit of this competition is that local coffee consumers and growers have both realized the potential offered by specialty coffees. It was 2014 when Ismael submitted his first coffee to Cup of Excellence. When he won the second place, he realized that he had been exploited by being grossly underpaid for his high quality coffee. By selling his product for the same trading company for four years and being paid a fraction of the price he should have deserved, given the quality of his product. Ismael’s farm, La Bendición, is planted with Pacas, Bourbon and Pacamara
varieties. Our choice for this coffee has been the Pacamara variety. The drying process was semi-dry or honey process, that is the cherries were not entirely pulped before drying, similarly to the winning coffee in 2014. Processing and drying both contribute to the notes of peach, plum and grapes. But what makes Pacamara so special? To fully understand the secret of the variety, we must go back to the 19th century, when a member of the Pacas family, namely Josa Rosa, planted his farm with a Bourbon variety. Throughout the next decades, a natural mutation of the variety developed. This new variety was named Pacas after the family. Scientists of the University of Florida crossed the Pacas with the Maragogype varietal, which, similarly to Pacas, was also noted for its large-sized beans. It took approximately 30 years of careful scientific research to create the final Pacamara varietal. It was made available for coffee farmers in the 1980s.
Our coffees taste the best when extracted with water of the proper hardness* range. In order to highlight the best flavour of our roasts we recommend having 5 to 10 days of resting period after roasting, but consume within two weeks of opening. Enjoy!
* Total hardness: 50 –175 ppm CaCO3 (2.9–9.8 °d), ppm CaCO3 (2.2–4.2 °d), pH: 6.5-8.0.
alkalinity/buffer: 40 –75 (The SCAE Water Chart)
photo by The Coffee Quest
ISMAEL RECINOS