El Salvador Miravalles Sampacho

Finca Miravalle is owned by Luis Duarte, and is located in Apaneca, Ahuachapan, not too far from the Santa Ana volcano. It's part of a much larger group of coffee plots, a few of them demarcated by cultivar separations, and the larger plots a mix of cultivars. Many farmers are replanting with disease resistant varietals, but Luis Duarte has chosen to continue with these cultivars because of the commonly held belief that they taste superior to most disease resistant hybrids available and manages to prevent leaf rust and fungal outbreaks with good farm practices (proper space between plants, regular pruning, cleaning beneath the trees, directive spraying, etc). This is Sampacho variety (also referred to as "San Pacho"), a dwarf breed that's a cross of Caturra and San Bernardo varieties, and known for high yield, positive cup qualities, and a shorter stature that makes it easier to harvest. Miravalle is perched on the verdant slopes of the Apaneca-Ilamatepec mountain region at 1500 meters above sea level. I like to think of it as a "flexible" coffee, in that it produces a nice balanced brew at almost any roast level.