El Salvador

Miramar

Rich dark stewed fruits

This black honey Bourbon lot showcases dark, sweet and complex dark fruit, with notes of plum, raisin and chocolate liqueur.

The Alfaro family have been working with coffee in El Salvador since the late 1800’s, Fernando is the fourth generation of his family to work on farms.

Producer
Fernando Alfaro
Coffee expression
A sweet & rich coffee

Regular price: $22.00
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Sale price: $22.00
incl. vat/tax
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A rich and dark fruit dominated cup from the San Salvador Volcano, produced by the Alfaro family

El Salvador

Miramar

The Miramar farm is the most recent project by the Alfaro family, some of the pioneers of coffee in El Salvador. In the late 1800’s, Antonio Jose Alfaro purchased lands from small farmers who were leaving the region, those who had been unsuccessful with coffee. He believed that these lands could be successfully cultivated, and set about creating a detailed and methodic approach that runs in the family to this day. Over 100 years later, Antonio’s great grandson Fernando continues in the family footsteps with his farms, spanning several of El Salvador’s growing regions.

Miramar is Fernandos newest project, inherited from his wife’s family in 2020.

Honey Bourbon

Fernando Alfaro

The small Miramar plot was inherited from Fernando’s wife’s side of the family, who are also long time coffee producers. The farm had been abandoned for many years, meaning that the coffee plantations were in bad condition, but the soils were full of organic material. Fernando saw the opportunity here, with fertile soils, high altitude and excellent native shade, to create excellent quality. He set about replanting the farm with high quality varietals, and has dubbed Miramar his ‘Cup of Excellence’ farm. He hopes to compete for top awards in the coming years, but for now, most of the trees are very young, and yielding very small harvests. Even still, several lots from Miramar advanced to the national stages of the Cup of Excellence in 2022.

This lot of Bourbon was processed using a honey method, with a great deal of sticky fruit mucilage left on during the drying. This wealth of sugary fuel for fermentation means a deep and complex cup, with rich notes of stewed plum, raisins and chocolate liqueur.

Technical Data

Producer
Fernando Alfaro
Region
Quezaltepec
Altitude
1600 masl
Varietal
Bourbon
Process
Honey
Harvest
March 2022

Honey Process

With the honey process a certain amount of mucilage and pulp are allowed to remain on the coffee bean during depulping. The cover will stay with the bean during fermentation and drying thereby contributing to the sugars absorbed by the bean and affecting the flavour notes of the final cup. The amount of mucilage remaining defines the type of honey process - white, yellow, red or black in ascending order of mucilage concentration. If they are processed properly, the coffees can take on quite a lot of sweetness and flavours while remaining clean.

Raised drying beds (sometimes referred to as African drying beds) are often preferable when working with honey processed coffees, because of the additional airflow they allow. The air ensures that the beans dry evenly and reduces the incidence of fungi and bacteria formation. On the other hand, some farmers are accustomed to using sun-exposed patio drying that require a regular raking of beans to avoid moulds. While total fermentation and drying time depend on such choices as well as ambient temperature and moisture levels, red honey processing easily needs two weeks from depulping until drying has completed.