El Salvador Finca Miravalles Castillo

Castillo is a hybrid coffee that was developed in Colombia for high yields, and resistance to coffee diseases like leaf rust. It often gets a bad rap, especially when compared to one of its parents, Caturra. The truth is, Castillo has the potential to be a very interesting cup in its own right. It often carries herbal characteristics, and in this case, dense bittersweet notes that work well at a range of roasts. The 120 manzana Finca Miravalles is a family affair, owned by husband and wife Luis Duarte and Tete Chacón, and much of the management is handled by their son, Luis Jr. The farm is located in Apaneca, Ahuachapan, not too far from the Santa Ana volcano. It used to be two separate farms, Miravalles belonging to Tete's family, Santa Maria to Luis's. They were both raised on these neighboring farms, family ownership going back some 150 years. Sometime after marrying, they put in an offer on Miravalles, which was all but abandoned at the time, and joined with Santa Maria under the Miravalles name. They have been renovating the farm ever since, keeping much of the original Bourbon and Pacas cultivars, along with several other varieties that they go to great lenghts to process separately They've done an amazing job segregating the cultivars in separate plots, and go to great lenghts to harvest and process separately too. Miravalles is perched on the verdant slopes of the Apaneca-Ilamatepec mountain region, and spans an altitude range of about 1250 to 1550 meters above sea level. Check out our video tour of the Miravalles farm, and in-depth look at their wet process method in action at their mill.