Bourbon coffee is a classic cultivar, named for the island of Bourbon (now called Reunion) where it was originally cultivated. When we call it "classic", we mean not just the fact that it is a lower-yield than modern types like Catuai, and that it has a very dense seed that roasts well, but also the cup character. Bourbon coffees, especially those from El Salvador, are neo-typical Central American coffees. They are bright, aromatic, balanced, semisweet or bittersweet, chocolaty and have a creamy mouthfeel. Bourbons should be appreciated for more than their sturdiness, versatility (they make great espresso blend components) and the way they take a wide range of roasts. Each has unique accent notes too. This coffee is from one of the best, most prolific coffee areas in Santa Ana, grown at 1400 meters, 100% Bourbon. It's from a particular part of the farm, called Tablon Buena Vista. (Tablon means a board or plank, but refers to a block of land on the farm which is separated in harvest and post-harvest processing, an ideal way to isolate quality coffees from within the farm boundaries. It's a versatile coffee, which works well in espresso and drip type brewing. I did a very light City roast and the cup was aromatically lemony, sweet in the cup flavors (cane sugar), zingy, bright, and mildly floral. I did a City + roast that had creamy nut tones with ripe orange underneath, and a cinnamon accent. I did a FC, and FC+, a light Vienna, and with each the cup had great character, chocolate tonality becoming more intense and bittersweet as the roast darkened, but never becoming flat, ashy or carbony. I highly recommend this lot for espresso, SO Espresso if you can extend the roast, finish slowly, tone down some of the brightness a bit in the final extraction. We love it as an espresso blend base, rather than soft Brazil coffees. It gives a classic espresso bittersweet flavor, and performs so well in the roaster.

Finca Matalapa is a classic estate coffee, long before there were mini-mills and micro-lots. It has a complete independent mill to service the farm, from the tree through wet-processing, patio drying, hulling and preparation, to loading the coffee in jute bags and packing the shipping container. The mill is filled with fantastic, classic coffee equipment painted in bold colors. And it's the passion of the owner, Vickie Ann Dalton de Diaz, and the mechanical love of the archaic on the part of her husband that keeps the mill running and the coffee tasting so wonderful! Finca Matalapa is in the Libertad area, not far from the capital of San Salvador, on a west-facing slope ranging from 1200 meters up to the ridge top at 1350 meters. It's a 4th generation coffee estate totaling 120 hectrares and was founded in the late 1800's by Fidelia Lima, great grandmother of the Vickie. She maintains 14 acres of virgin tropical forest and keeps her coffee plants shaded with over forty varieties of larger trees. The cup has the character I aspire to find in El Salvador Bourbon-type coffees, though because of the strong winds in the area they find the native Salvador Pacas varietal to fare better in this region. Pacas is a natural mutation of the Bourbon varietal. This is from a particular part of the farm called a Tablon, (which means literally a board or plank), called Tablon El Amate. The coffee has great balance and sweet accent notes. The dry fragrance has sweet nuts in the light roast, almost like praline and some soft floral notes at City+, and a syrupy caramel sweetness at FC roast. The cup is very approachable, and you can seek out some sweet orangey citrus in the wet aroma, with syrupy malt sweetness (C+ roast). The cup has a buttery body, laced with slight floral and orange blossom accents. As it cools my lighter roasts (City+) became more and more bright and dynamic. I preferred this roast level for brewed coffee; the finish is high-toned and sweet. But this coffee works with a huge range of roasts and Full City roasts produce a great bittersweet, full-bodied cup (ideal as part of an espresso blend, SO espresso or as French Press type coffee). Really balanced, classic coffees like this might have very even numerical scores across the board, and not break into 87+ scoring, but they are the kind of coffee you want to drink every morning!

Siberia is a farm with a great track record in the Cup of Excellence for their Bourbon coffees, and we offered the Bourbon lot last season. We bought it before as a 23rd place coffee in the Cup of Excellence, and it has been as high as 6th place in previous competitions. As with previous years, I was really, really impressed with a Pacamara cultivar coffee from Siberia in 2010. Some Pacamara coffees can be more herbal and oniony, not something many people want in their coffee. This lot is very sweet, floral and citrusy. This coffee is from one of the best, most prolific coffee areas in Santa Ana, grown at 1450 meters. We really didn't need more El Salvador coffee, nor another Pacamara, but it was too good to pass up! So sweet, floral, brightly fruited. This coffee can be a little hard to roast, partly due to the large bean size. In air roasters, cut back on the batch a little. It seems to finish fast, so when you hear first crack start, pay close attention and be prepared, or you may miss your roast level target. And for that I recommend City+ roast. The dry fragrance is beautiful, sweet floral roast notes, ripe orange and red fruits, cane sugar. The wet aroma is soooo sweet: light brown sugar, caramel sauce, sweet ripe citrus, delicate flower blossom scents. I get cinnamon toast notes along with the soft floral accents. The cup has juicy red apple flavors, hibiscus floralness, like the tea called "Jamaica" (pronounced Ha-my-ka) in Latin countries. It's sweet, and the aromas persist through the sapid flavors on the palate; it has what they call "after-nose". The body is light, but suits the cup character overall. In the finish there is a root beer sweetness as the cup cools. I liked the darker roasts I did as well, with dark brown sugar flavors and a more pungent spice note. But I admit I did some of those by accident. Keep an eye on this coffee in the roaster! Note: Because of the large bean size of this coffee, I strongly recommend that you measure this out by weight, not by volume, when brewing.