Origin: El Salvador
Region: Apaneca, Ahuachapán
Farm: Llano Grande
Producer: Rafael and Carmen Elena Silva
Varieties: Pacamara
Process: Anaerobic Natural
Altitude: 1500 masl
We Taste: Fragrance of tropical fruit and pineapple with a boozy aroma on the break. The cup is rich with cocoa, vanilla, and a deep molasses sweetness. The body is heavy with a creamy mouthfeel. The coffee features a lively acidity and notes of black cherry and pomegranate in the aftertaste.

The Silva family employs eight to ten people year-round and between 70 and 90 workers during harvest. All the coffee on the farm is hand-picked and processed at their own mill, Beneficio San Pedro. Having that mill on-site means the Silvas manage processing and quality control with a level of care that most farmers in El Salvador don't have access to. Every lot is separated by picking date and variety, then carefully cupped before moving forward.

At Beneficio San Pedro, cherries are pulped on arrival to remove the outer fruit from the parchment, then dried on raised beds inside a greenhouse. Workers turn the beans regularly to keep fermentation in check and ensure an even dry. The Silvas have a long-standing commitment to the land around them. Coffee pulp is recycled and processed with earthworms to create vermicompost, which goes back into fertilizing the trees. Native shade trees protect the coffee from direct sunlight and build up a layer of organic material on the ground that holds moisture and reduces erosion. The family also plants natural barriers and drills drainage holes to minimize flooding. Rain reservoirs throughout the farm collect water during the wet season to carry the operation through the dry months.