El Salvador RFA Natural - Finca Santa Leticia Microlot

This is a Rainforest Alliance certified coffee from Finca Santa Leticia in the Ahuachapán department of western El Salvador, not far from the Guatemalan border. Finca Santa Leticia is located in a beautiful valley close to the township of Apaneca. It is surrounded by the colorful towns of the central Ilamatepeque Mountain Chain, widely considered to be the best region in El Salvador for coffee cultivation.

4th-Generation farmer Ricardo Valdivieso Oriani grows these trees of the bourbon varietal at altitudes of 1200-1800 masl. The coffee is then naturally processed, whereby ripe cherries are dried on raised African beds in partial shade for an average of 22 days.

HISTORY

In 1865, Francisco Menendez Valdivieso, inherited the land of what today is known as Santa Leticia Farm, name after his beautiful daughter. The following generations continued the tradition: Leticia and her husband Higinio, their son Dr. Ricardo Valdivieso Menendez and wife Elena, their sons, Ricardo and Mauricio Valdivieso. It was in 1964 when Ricardo Valdivieso Oriani came back to El Salvador, having left the country when he was only 6 years old. He immediately fell in love with the farm and that same year he met Patricia, married her, and together with their daughters Patricia and Monica, and their husbands Roberto Gallardo and Jose Roberto Santamaria, they continue the long standing tradition of excellence in coffee.

In 1965, Ricardo assumed full responsibility of the Valdivieso’s coffee legacy. He decided to replace the older “cafetos”, with young Bourbon Coffee plants. These young plants all came from carefully selected seeds, with the best characteristics from the original “Old Arabica” coffee plants. In 1992 they began “root grafting” all the new seedlings. In this process, they have a stronger root system and a healthy crop of Bourbon and Pacamara.

THE REGION

The majority of the region is mountainous, and although altitude rarely exceeds 1400 meters, it exhibits a number of attributes that lead to high quality coffee production such as volcanic soil, native lush forest, and a fertile environment. Notable landmarks include the beautiful town of Concepción de Ataco and ‘El Imposible’ national park. El Salvador as an origin has a natural tendency to produce sweet, versatile and sought-after coffees from small, and generally progressive producers. As such it was an early darling of the current specialty coffee movement. However, in 2013 the county was perhaps one of the hardest hit in Central America by the roya (leaf rust) outbreak and many farms produced negligible-to-nil coffee volume. Diligent and progressive producers have generally rebounded well and are coming back with improved volume and quality each season.