El Salvador Los Andes

• Country: El Salvador
• Region: Apaneca-Ilamatepec Mountain Range, Santa Ana
• Producer: Ernesto Menéndez
• Farmer: Los Andes
• Variety:  SL28
• Processing: Washed
• Altitude: 1720 MASL

The roaster's story:

Ernesto Menéndez is a well-known name in the coffee industry and has won the coveted Cup of Excellence several times. We're so honoured to have his five hectare farm Los Andes farm produce exclusively for Drop Coffee!

Los Andes farm is about 5 hectares, which yields a bit more than we typically buy, but we find it well worth committing to all of the coffee to maintain this valuable partnership. Ernesto holds a lot of knowledge and is always very communicative about how he takes care of the farm, and how he processes his coffees. Walking the farm together with him is like opening a true treasure, he holds so much knowledge and skills from the agriculture, processing and to the cupping table.  

Los Andes has quite an interesting story. Almost 60-70 years ago, the previous owner of the farm planted SL28 trees on the land which had been taken home from a hunting trip in Kenya. As a result, the Bourbon varietal at Los Andes now grows right beside the SL28 trees, some of which are now almost 80 years-old. For comparison, most of our coffees come from plants that are only 3-20 years old. At Los Andes, everything is left to grow "wild" to create a more wild forest environment and the coffee is produced in harmony with the nature. This is also why Ernesto keeps the older plants around, instead of simply planting new ones. The plants age and grow into the natural forest environment that Ernesto is looking for and make the environment really special. 

The Kenyan coffee varietal SL28 is citric and vibrant, often with the flavour of black currant. The terroir from Santa Ana in El Salvador is chocolatey and round. This makes the Los Andes SL28 a pretty and nuanced cup profile. Originally planted 65 years ago, the SL28 trees at Los Andes have of course naturally adapted to the conditions in Apaneca and El Salvador and will therefore not taste like a Kenyan coffee per se, it will taste like an El Salvadorian SL28 grown following Ernesto's farming philosophy.