For more than a century, the Alvarez family has been growing coffee in El Salvador from generation to generation. Situated on the lush green hills of Santa Ana sits their award-winning farms, blessed with rich volcanic soils and mild climate conditions. Finca La Reforma and Finca Santa Maria were established back in 1892 by Rafael Alvarez Lalinde, bringing in his best coffee seeds from Colombia to begin a new legacy for coffee production.
Four generations later, his descendants have maintained his legacy to farm coffee in this exceptional region. Both farms solely carry red bourbon variety coffee trees, demonstrating the family's perserverance and commitment to quality against El Salvador's recent struggles with coffee leaf rust, to which these trees are highly vulnerable to. Cultivated under native shade, the trees improve the soil and provide a home for birds and are strictly managed to maintain their health.
Such practices have helped the family to harvest some of the best coffee from this region, which are processed at the El Borbollon mill managed by Eduardo Alvarez. The mill has seen many farms place in the Cup of Excellence competitions due to his hard work and advocacy, managing the work to ensure the processing complements the natural potential of the coffees. All the coffees are pulped without water and fermented for up to 20 hours until peak. This is followed with a wash in clean, fresh water to remove mucilage. The coffee is then moved to clay patios as they are endothermic and thus good for regulating temperature. They are dried under the sun whilst being regularly turned by hand.
The meticulous attention to detail at every stage of production has carried the family through countless hardships in the coffee industry, prompting other farms to be inspired and invest in quality methods of production as well.
El Borbollon brings out a smooth mouthfeel and balanced cup, paired with a creamy body akin to biting into milk chocolate. Find a dried fruit sweetness like prunes complemented by a note of walnut in the finish.
Recommended to rest beans for 7-10 days from roast date before consuming.
