El Salvador: Llano Grande, Anaerobic Natural, Pacamara [125g]

*Please note this coffee is part of our Special Reserve range and sold in 125g bags, not 220g*

This coffee comes from Rafael and Carmen Silva who were the first producers we met when we first visited El Salvador in 2003. Rafael primarily focuses on the running of the family's farms and Carmen focuses on looking after coffee buyers just like us. Nowadays they're also enjoying extra support from their sons Rafael Jr who's focussing mainly on their mill Beneficio San Pedro and Rodrigo who splits his time between sales and the mill.

Llano Grande is the farm surrounding the Sicafe wet mill, Beneficio San Pedro.

Processed as an Anaerobic Natural, this coffee benefits from the very delicate and careful touch Rafael Jr has brought to his processing of coffees.

All the family’s coffees are processed at Beneficio San Pedro, one of the highest-elevation mills in the whole of El Salvador! As well as being really high up, the mill also has unusually high humidity which makes work there extra challenging. The San Pedro mill takes deliveries of freshly picked cherries and processes them in a wide range of ways. After processing, the coffee is dried in a mix of patios and raised beds, with each lot carefully monitored for humidity and temperature and tracked throughout it’s journey. It gets sampled throughout that journey, going for roasting and cupping at the quality control lab in the mill too.

Although the Anaerobic Natural gives this coffee some funk, Rafael Jr has said he's always keen to make sure you can taste the terroir and underlying qualities of the coffee through any processing he does. This definitely contributes to making him one of the most careful and consistent processors of coffee I know. This year he's pushed the funky character a fraction further, using slightly longer anaerobic phases, on some of his coffees such as this.

Bursting out the cup with gooseberry this coffee is a juicy one. A sweetness of chocolate dark fruits underpins that and balances it, finishing on a lingering cherry note. There's a nice hum of natural funk to the whole too, but it never overwhelms the fresh fruit flavours.

• Country: El Salvador
• Department: Ahuachapán
• District: Apaneca
• Farm: Llano Grande
• Mill: Beneficio San Pedro
• Producers: Rafael Silva
• Elevation: 1,500 m.a.s.l.
• Size: 4 hectares
• Average temperature: 18ºC
• Average annual rainfall: 2,500 mm
• Variety: Pacamara
• Processing method: Anaerobic Natural

Tasting notes: Gooseberry, cherry, chocolate.

Cup of Excellence Cupping Scores

• Clean Cup: (1-8): 6.5
  
• Sweetness: (1-8): 6
  
• Acidity: (1-8): 7
  
• Mouthfeel: (1-8): 6.5
  
• Flavour: (1-8): 7
  
• Aftertaste: (1-8): 6.5
  
• Balance: (1-8): 6
  
• Overall: (1-8): 7
  
• Correction:(+36): +36
  
• Total (max 100): 88
  

Roast Information
Medium: push this through the gap and up to the edge of second, but a quick pace will let the vibrant acidity and fruits pop.

We offer our coffees as whole beans, pre-ground, and green unroasted.

To help you choose the best pre-ground options for you, below is a list of popular brew methods that we find work well with our settings. And for more information, please visit our dedicated grind size article here.

Espresso: Turkish coffee (jezve) or, you guessed it, espresso

Fine Filter: Moka pot, AeroPress, single cup pour-over (e.g. Hario V60 01, Chemex 1-3 cup, Kalita 155)

Medium Filter: Double cup pour-over brewers (e.g., Clever Dripper, V60 02, Chemex 6/8/10 cup, Kalita 185, April, wide Orea, etc)

Coarse Filter: Automatic drip brewers like Moccamaster, BUNN, Sage, Behmor etc, and syphon brewers.

French Press: French Press (cafetiere/press pot/plunger Pot), cold brew, cowboy coffee.

• It is not possible to grind 3kg bags.
• Ground coffee cannot be refunded nor exchanged as it is a product customised especially for you.

If you're interested in getting yourself a grinder, we have a great selection to choose from! Click here to check them out.