El Salvador Manzano

El Manzano Farm is 16 km from Santa Ana, also known as Ilamatepec. This name is in the original dialect of the locals (specifically in the Uto-Aztecan language). The farm is part of the production company Cuatro M, which has been run by Emilio Lopez since 2001. It is part of the sixth generation of coffee growers. He has a wealth of experience, which he also proved by placing in the Cup of Excellence competition in 2018, where his coffees took first and second place. In 2005, Emilio and his team built their own coffee processing plant on this farm with a capacity of 600 tons of green grain. Their main values in terms of access to coffee are mainly quality, consistency of production and support for innovation.

 

The aforementioned El Manzano Farm is located in a volcanic terroir at an altitude of 1,300 to 1,550 meters. The soil in this area is very fertile and rich in nutrients. Originally, only the Typica variety was planted on the farm, but it failed and the yield was small. For this reason, in 2004 Emilio and his team decided to transplant the farm with the current main production variety Red Bourbon, which is currently grown on 90% of the land and the rest is planted with varieties Pacamara, Typica, Yellow Bourbon and Kenya. The total area of the farm is about 75 hectares.

 

Pacamara or dwarf variety is a coffee tree created by crossing varieties Pacas and Maragogype. The plant produces large grains that are very rich in flavors and aromas. Unfortunately, it is also very susceptible to rust, which is a disease that attacks the leaves of the coffee tree and can destroy entire plantations. The yield of the Pacamara variety is low and therefore very difficult to buy. It is most grown at higher altitudes, where the coffee tree generally thrives very well.

 

The coffee was processed by a dry process. The cherries are harvested by hand and immediately after harvesting are spread on African beds, where the coffee is aerated and turned every hour. As a result, the fruit is dried evenly and unwanted mold infestation or fermentation is reduced. The average temperature at the time of collection is between 25 and 30 ° C and the whole process takes 10 to 14 days.