DISCOVERY

The Santa Ana Volcano

This month’s coffees are both produced in close collaboration with renowned Salvadoran producer Aida Batlle, on family owned farms on the Santa Ana volcano. Aida’s story is one of fortitude in the face of adversity, returning to her ravaged home country after years of civil war with a view to elevate not only her own farms, but those of her neighbours too. The project has continued, now numbering several esteemed producers across the region, including Ricardo Augsburg of Plan de la Batea, this month’s first coffee. The Batlle farms themselves have continued on their own path; flagship farm Kilimanjaro has gone from an early Cup of Excellence winner to a household name within the coffee industry.

The Batlle family project

Both of this month’s coffees are part of the Batlle family project, focussed on farms on the slopes of El Salvador’s Santa Ana volcano. The project has been driven mainly by Aida Batlle, the sixth generation of the family to produce coffee, for almost 2 decades. Aida is a true trailblazer in the coffee world, having been the first woman to win the Cup of Excellence, in the inaugural Salvadoran competition of 2003. Fleeing to Miami during El Salvador’s brutal Civil War, Aida returned to the family’s farms in the late 90’s. Although much of the coffee from the farms was pre-contracted to a local buyer, Aida was free to experiment on the highest plot of land, with the highest quality potential, Finca Kilimanjaro. It was not long after this that her attention to detail paid off, and the Cup of Excellence win opened the doors not only for the Batlle farms, but for a wider quality revolution in El Salvador. Since then, Aida has worked with some of the finest roasters across the world, innovating in new varietals, processing techniques, the export of cascara, and developing direct trade models.

35% off chocolate

La Catarina

We’re excited to welcome El Salvador back to our seasonal coffee lineup this Autumn. To celebrate, you can add our Salvadoran chocolate from La Catarina to your subscription with a substantial discount.

We’ve spoken before about the biological similarities between coffee and chocolate, and how terroir factors affect the two plants in similar ways. This month you can taste some of the finest Salvadoran chocolate alongside the finest Salvadoran coffee, examining the parallels between the flavour profiles.

Watch the guide on how to add the chocolate to your subscription order.

35% off guide

el salvador

Plan de la Batea

This lot was grown and processed by Ricardo Augspurg, at his farm Plan de la Batea. Plan de la Batea lies just a short distance further down the volcanic slopes of Santa Ana from Kilimanjaro. The farm grows mainly Red Bourbon, but this lot comes from Ricardo’s small plot of the Orange variation. Orange Bourbon is thought to be a natural mutation of Red Bourbon, with the cherries ripening a deep orange colour, often with small brown spots. The orange colour means they are more difficult to pick at a consistent ripeness, as pickers are used to the deep winey colour of ripe red cherries. Orange Bourbon often has a greater emphasis on floral and tropical character than chocolatey traditional Bourbons, while maintaining the deep and rich sweetness that Salvadoran Bourbons are known for.

This lot, processed using a washed protocol created with assistance from the Batlle family, showcases these bright tropical notes, and a rich brown sugar sweetness.

El Salvador

Kilimanjaro

This coffee comes from the flagship Batlle farm, Finca Kilimanjaro, located high on the slopes of the Santa Ana volcano, not far from the town of Santa Ana itself. The volcanic soils of Santa Ana are very fertile, leading to excellent yields as well as quality. Here, as on all of the family farms, the level of control at all stages is impressive. Only the ripest red cherries are picked, fermentation protocols are followed to the letter, and coffee is stored and dry-milled under exacting conditions.

This lot is a blend of the varietals grown at Kilimanjaro, which includes both SL varietals and Bourbon, processed using the washed method. This leads to a rich and sweet cup, with a round and juicy berry acidity.

How to brew

Victor's thoughts

I love Salvadoran coffee! It always has so much depth and fruit, without losing structure or character. This area of El Salvador is interesting, in that it is dominated by volcanic soil and enjoys a relatively mild climate, which comes through in the cup as a structured acidity and a body that often sits between juicy and round, depending on other factors.

Both of this month’s coffees are washed, which leads my focus more to the varietal used. The washed process used here is rather traditional, where de-pulped coffee is fermented in large concrete tanks before washing the remaining mucilage from the seeds, and drying on raised beds. This style helps to showcase that deep Salvadoran fruit profile, made possible by the fertile volcanic soil. This lot from Plan de La Batea is an Orange Bourbon, a natural mutation of Red Bourbon that matures with a high level of sugar in the fruit. This adds fuel to that initial fermentation, creating more acidity, brightness and complexity in the cup. I’ve found this Orange Bourbon to taste very sweet, with a soft but sometimes bright acidity, a very ripe profile. I really find it to be reminiscent of orange fruit, like mandarin and papaya.

If I tasted Kilimanjaro blind I would guess it was a Kenyan estate coffee. The mix of varietals here also contains the two most popular Kenyan selections from Scott Labs, SL28 and SL34, both with super high acidity and a deep fruit profile. Where this coffee still hints at El Salvador is the Bourbon varietal, that gives the cup a deep and rich stewed fruit sweetness, and that lingering chocolate finish.

brew guide

Plan de La Batea

For Plan de La Batea I would use a recipe with one long, slow pour after the bloom. The goal here is to keep the water level as low as possible above the coffee bed, ensuring that almost no water bypasses the coffee and runs out of the sides of the paper filter.

DATA:

15,5 grams of coffee (fine grind)
260 grams of water 40ppm 92C
CAFEC Abaca or Light roast filters

METHOD:

Dose the finely ground coffee into the V60 and tap to create a flat even bed

0:00 add 60g of water

Pour straight in the centre for 30g, before spiralling outwards to wet all of the grounds. Don’t swirl or stir the bloom.

0:45 add 200g of water

Pour 40g in spirals (until the scale shows 100g) then pour straight in the centre until the scale shows 260g, pouring very slowly.

2:00 stop pour

I aim to finish my pour at around 2:00. If you are finished pouring earlier, try to pour even slower on your next brew.

3:00-3:00 brew done

All the water should have drained through the coffee bed between 3:00 and 3:30.

Taste notes

Soft papaya sweetness, mandarin acidity, lingering 70% chocolate aftertaste, smooth and creamy texture and body.

Brew guide

Kilimanjaro

For Kilimanjaro I would use a recipe with 4 pours after the bloom. The goal here is to use a coarse grind to boost acidity, but use a very different pouring structure to increase extraction. If I used the same single pour recipe with this coarser grind size, the cup would lack character, with a very watery body. Adding the extra pours extends the contact time between water and coffee, increasing the extraction of the coarser grind.

DATA:

15,5 grams of coffee (fine grind)
260 grams of water 40ppm 96C
CAFEC Abaca or Light roast filters

METHOD:

Dose the fine ground coffee into the V60 and shake to even out.

0:00 add 60g of water

Pour straight in the centre for 30g, before spiralling outwards to wet all of the grounds. Don’t swirl or stir the bloom.

0:40 add 50g (scale says 110g)r

Poured in slow spirals

1:20 add 50g (scale says 160g)

Poured in slow spirals

2:00 add 50g (scale says 210g)

Poured in slow spirals

2:40 add 50g (scale says 260g)

Poured in slow spirals

3:30-4:00 Brew done

All the water should have drained through the coffee bed between 3:30 and 4:00.

taste notes

Soft blackberry sweetness, blackberry acidity, lingering grapefruit pith aftertaste, juicy and silky texture and body.

I really enjoy the results from both of these recipes. The first I learned from Dane Oliver back in 2016, when he used it for the World Brewer’s Cup in Dublin. The other I used in my own presentation in Boston in 2019. I think both present our coffees really well, and often swap between the two to see how the cup experience changes. You can also enjoy trying these two recipes on any other coffees you around the house!

Best Regards,

Victor Kristensen

DISCOVERY

Aida Batlle

We are excited to continue our collaboration with Aida Batlle, a true trailblazer in the Salvadoran coffee industry. Her work on her own farms is impressive enough, innovating in processing and producing varying cup profiles long before the speciality industry began asking for this level of traceability and experimentation. Add to this the quality work with neighbouring farms, and the direct connections that have been fostered with high end roasters across the world, all under the continuing instability we see in El Salvador, decades after arms were laid down in the civil war. A truly impressive feat, by a truly impressive team. We hope you enjoy the fruits of these labours this month.