El Salvador La Dalia Pacamara

About this coffee

In the middle of the Apaneca mountains in western El Salvador, not far from the border with Guatemala and only 40 minutes from the sea, the Guillén family has been growing coffee for five generations. Mainly the varieties Bourbon and Pacamara, but also some Geisha. On their four farms, “San Antonio”, “La Dalia”, “El Mercurio” and “Santa Teresa”, they produce a total of 900 quintals, which are approx. 592 bags of 69kg each, i.e., a little more than two containers of coffee per year.

The 16ha Finca La Dalia is located at an altitude of 1500m. On an area of 7ha, the Pacamara plants grow on loamy soil and on steep slopes under cedar, mahogany, and pepeto trees. At La Dalia there are 60% of Bourbon and 40% Pacamara are growing.

Right now, Jose Guillén is the 5th generation of coffee growers in the Guillén family. Since 2013, his parents (Carlos and Sandra) and he have been changing the way they produce coffee, switching from commercial coffee to specialty coffee in all their farms. Already with their first harvest, a Pacamara Honey won 1st place at the German Brewers Cup. A year later, the Guillens, together with our mates from Plotcoffee, built a cold store so that José could anaerobically ferment his excellent coffee in a targeted and controlled manner.

Anaerobic fermentation simply means fermentation without the presence of oxygen. The Guillen family placed optimally ripe and freshly picked cherries into juice barrels (due to their food-safe interior) and covered them with a lid.

Next, they placed the barrels inside a controlled temperature room, which is run by two industrial ACs that keep the room between eight and twenty degrees Celsius. They let the cherries ferment for a period of 168 hours, after which they are spread out in a thin layer on African beds for drying for 29 days. The cherries are moved 3 to 4 times a day, always making sure not to damage the cherries.

Once the cherries reached our desired humidity, they were transported inside a well-ventilated warehouse where the humidity level helps to homogenize all the beans.

Despite the long processing, all the juicy characteristics of a Pacamara from Central America are still very much present, without traces of over-funkiness. Thus, while its body and sweetness reminded us of a Black Forest cake, we also found acidity resembling green apple, as well as the herbality from hibiscus. An absolute all-rounder.