About This Coffee
San Carlos Estate was founded in 1971. Today it is owned and operated by Mauricio and Cia Borgonovo. Located at 1,275 meters above sea level in Talnique, El Salvador, the estate is RFA and Café Practice certified.
The Borgonovos place an emphasis on providing safe and comfortable conditions for all their employees. They offer housing for temporary workers, which includes all the modern conveniences like electricity, showers and places to wash their clothes. They also provided ecological stoves to their year-round workers. Ecological stoves reduce environmental pollution and improve air quality, extending lives. Temporary workers also have access to stoves while they are working on the property.
In order to help their employees and the surrounding community, they created two projects that focus on long term health and success. First, they offer health services and health awareness projects for employees, their families and the community. Second, they also have an education project that focuses on computer science and English language skills.
Cultivation
This lot is composed of Bourbon coffee. All coffee at San Carlos Estate is shade grown. Shade trees help create a cooler environment for coffee trees, which helps concentrate sugars.
Harvest & Post-Harvest
Workers selectively handpick ripe, red cherry and deliver it to the on-site washing station. Cherry is sorted and pulped. Coffee is fermented for 12 hours and then washed in clean water. Parchment is laid to sun dry. Workers rake parchment frequently to ensure even drying.
Coffee in El Salvador
Don’t be fooled by El Salvador’s small size. It was once the 4th largest coffee producer worldwide and continues to produce high quality lots. The country is known for its great cupping varieties, such as Bourbon and Pacamara. In fact, two beloved, frequently high-scoring varieties—Pacas and Pacamara— originated in El Salvador.
Unlike other countries, where specialty coffee production has required a great deal of additional investment and training, El Salvador already has a broad and skilled specialty coffee workforce. Farming traditions run deep, and many Salvadorian farmers are extremely passionate about coffee production and continuously strive to improve their crop. El Salvador has optimal conditions for coffee processing. The prolonged dry season typically occurs during the harvest season, making it easier to sun dry coffee.
Though coffee output in the country has been declining for over two decades – exacerbated by the CLR crisis – the approach to coffee production has changed from volume- to quality-driven. A new generation of coffee producers has sprouted around the country with a new vision and approach to production. Many of this generation are experimenting with processing and varietals.