Finca La Esperanza

This farm is an enclave for local and migratory wildlife, coffee trees grow under shade provided by century old Mezcal trees (not to be mistaken with the agave plant) with views from Zapotitan Vallley down below. La Esperanza borders with the El Boqueron National Park, a main feature of San Salvador Volcano crater. Due to the roya crisis of the last few years, most farms in the area have forgone the traditional Bourbon and Pacas varieties for rust resistant ones. However, La Esperanza has kept most of it's traditional tree populations in the higher elevations inside the farm, which have been kept productive and vigorous with integrated farming practices. Most of these lots have Arabigo (Typica) variety in between the Bourbons with gives the cup it's distinct flavour. Arabigo is the original variety which covered coffee plantations in the late 1800s when coffee was introduced into the country. This La Esperanza lot also includes the Centroamericano variety (a.k.a H1) developed for Central American farms by the French research institute CIRAD; it is a breeding of a rust resistant Sarchimor and an heirloom Ethiopian variety called Sudan Rume. The variety was introduced in La Esperanza in 2015, it is known as the "perfect variety" as it is rust-resistant, high yielding and most importantly produces a high quality complex cup. The agronomy team have trained the picking staff, which return to work at the farm every harvest, to handpick cherries at the maturation peakensuring the coffee reaches it's maximum flavour potential. The cherries are then transported to the nearby San Miguel mill where each day lot is processed individually under strict processing protocols to ensure maximum quality.