| Farm | Las Camelias |
|---|---|
| Varietal | Arabica Pacamara |
| Processing | Honey |
| Crop | March 2023 |
| Partnership | 1 year |
| Coffee type | Whole bean |
| Flavour | Juicy & Exotic |
Graciano Cruz's new farm
Las Camelias is a new farm which is situated high in the mountains above El Tunel village in Chalatenango.
We know this region quite well since we spent several months working here with small producers back in 2010. At that time, Chalatenango was not particularly famous among the specialty coffee crowd. That has changed tremendously. Today, pacamara microlots from this region belong to some of the best coffees from Central America.
Graciano Cruz bought his own farm here several years ago. The coffee you may try now is his very first crop of pacamara and geisha varieties.
Honey processing
Honey processing is a general term for all coffee processing methods where some amount of mucilage is left after depulping the cherries. There are many variations to this method in each producing country (e.g. Costa Rica and the use of Penagos eco-pulpers).
Graciano was the first coffee producer in Central America who started using honey processing (strictly without water) at his farms.
Freshly picked cherries are first rested in shade for 24 hours, depulped in mechanical pulper and spread on African beds where they dry for the duration of 14 days. The major difference is in the way the pulper is set to leave a lot of mucilage on the parchment which gives the beans yellowish appearance and sticky feeling. The idea behind honey processing is to increase the amount of sugars in the coffee beans.
Pacamara variety
is one of the trendy varieties valued for its appearance as well as distinct flavour profile. It is a hybrid of pacas and maragogype varities, currently most abundant at farms in El Salvador. Due to its huge beans it is a difficult variety to roast but the intense fruit and unique herbal notes together with very juicy cup are well worth it.
We recommend this coffee especially for brewing filter coffee
This coffee has a crisp and layered citric acidity with notes of caramel and tropical fruits.
