About This Coffee
Carlos Pola descends from a family of coffee farmers. He purchased Finca Las Brisas in 1997 while he was working in the textile industry. By 2012, he switched to working in coffee full time. His vision is to produce sustainable specialty coffee by applying his textile industry experience of quality control, efficiency and data management to coffee production on Finca Las Brisas.
The farm has its own lab for experimenting with new processing methods, quality control and educating farm workers in specialty coffee.
Carlos believes in supporting his community and helping as many farmers as possible embrace specialty coffee. He has channeled his passion for traceability into an applicable that traces coffee from the day it is harvested to the shipping lot.
Cultivation
When Carlos dedicated himself to producing coffee fulltime in 2012, he renovated the farm to create a farm focused on sustainable and cost-effective production. Carlos has substantially reduced the farm’s use of chemical pesticides and fertilizers by adopting a specific combination of scientific theory and coffee producer know-how. Trees are planted in double rows and shaded by nitrogen-fixing trees. Carlos has even spread specific fungi that have symbiotic relationships with coffee trees and can actually help trees be more efficient at absorbing nitrogen and phosphorus.
Carlos has been growing Centroamericano (H1) variety trees at Finca San Antonio since he purchased the farm in 1997. When coffee leaf rust (CLR) hit the farm in the 2010s, these trees fared especially well, thanks to their T5296 heritage, a coffee leaf rust-resistant variety descended from Timor and Villa Sarchi. Pared with Carlos’ quality-focused cultivation and processing, they produce an excellent cup quality.
Harvest & Post-Harvest
Cherry is selectively handpicked and placed in plastic tanks with airlocks that create an anaerobic (oxygen-less) environment while preventing pressure build up in the tank. Carlos is always seeking to further improve his process and has been experimenting with differing amounts of fermentation since 2016. This lot fermented in the tanks 3 days.
Following fermentation, cherry is pulped and dried on a raised beds with remaining mucilage. Parchment is raked frequently to ensure even drying. This lot took 18 days to dry.
Dried parchment is stored on the farm for several days and then transported to Cooperative La Cuzcachapa in Chalchuapa, Santa Ana to be prepared for export.
In line with his focus on ecologically-sound methods, Carlos only uses honey, natural and controlled fermentation processes to help reduce Finca La Brisas’ water consumption. Any water used in processing is carefully treated to reduce its environmental impact. Water is anaerobically fermented in sealed tanks where solids are broken down. This nutrient-rich solution is used to spread the fungi that support symbiotic nutrient uptake in coffee trees.
H2 & H1 - Farm Hybrid
H2 - Farm Hybrid (Catisic) was developed by Angel Cabrera in 1984. Cabrera, a geneticist at Instituo Salvadoreño para la Investigacion de Café (ISIC) who also developed the well-known Pacamara variety, spent over 40 years of testing and advancing this variety on Finca Las Brisas in El Salvador.
This H2 - Farm Hybrid - is a Caturra and Timor (Catimor) hybrid that is is rust resistant and has been uniquely adapted to flourish in Las Brisas's microclimate. Farm Hybrids is the name that Carlos Pola (owner) and family give to rust resistant varieties that have been in the farm for 3-4 decades and that they have worked to adapt to our microclimates.
The family carefully selects annually what they are going to plant according to quality and adaptability and name them H-1, H-2 and so on (this stands for Farm Hybrid 1, Farm Hybrid 2 and so on).
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.