El Salvador Dry Process Finca San Luis

Finca San Luis is owned by Luis Duarte, and is located in Ataco, Ahuachapan, not too far from the Santa Ana volcano. San Luis spans roughly 25 well-shaded hectares of land, across an altitude range of 1280 - 1400 meters above sea level. The farm is actually made up of several different "blocks" in close proximity to each other, though not necessarily connected. The Duarte family has chosen to plant their farm heavily in Bourbon cultivar, a tradition going back more than 50 years. But they also have small plots with other varieties too that are picked and processed separately. Last year's dry process lot from San Luis was only 6 bags. I'm happy to report that this year the Duarte's put together a 40 bag lot for us, selecting the same H1 hybrid that was used last year, referred to as "Centroamericano" locally. This compact, dwarf coffee plant is a cross of Sarchimor and the Ethiopian heirloom, Rume Sudan. One of the first things we noticed at their farms and mill is how incredible cherry selection is.While variety certainly impacts cup flavors, dry processing plays the biggest role here. Tasting it amongst the other washed coffees from Duarte's farms, the fruit-forward cup flavors were hard to miss, making it impossible for us to pass up! Don't expect the floral fruit of a dry process Ethiopian coffee. But rather, rustic fruits that display winey aromatics, as well as juicy undertones, and impressive bittersweetness to boot. A lot of hand sorting of unripe coffee and defects is employed before the cherry is even delivered to the mill. The coffee is then dried on raised beds for 15-20 days. Check out our video tour of Finca San Luis from earlier in 2023.