In the Grinder - Our Daily Coffee Weblog

2:30a.m. Sunday, February 5th:

Despite the painfully early wake-up call I found myself surprisingly awake and moving quickly about the house, scooping up all the items I had carefully packed just a few hours prior.  I crossed paths with those roommates that were still winding down their Saturday night, maintaining a strict silence in respect for those wise enough to be asleep.  After triple checking that everything was in order, I hopped in the car and was sped to the airport where Tim, Ian, Nicole (Ian’s significant other), and myself caught our 5:30a.m. flight out of MSP.  Approximately six hours and 70 degrees later, we arrived in San Salvador and met up with the 16 other coffee professionals/enthusiasts who would complete our crew for the 2012 Origin Trip.  The stage was set for a fantastic week.

Day 1:
We were fortunate enough to begin with a stop at Viva Espresso, home of Alejandro Mendez, the current World Barista Champion.  He and Frederico Bolanos (the owner and founder of Viva Espresso) were outstanding hosts, taking time out of their busy lives to sit down and chat with us about the deep investments they had made in training over the last few years, along with the overall vision of the company.  Frederico and his wife started out years ago with a driving passion for making the best coffee they could, and are now at the forefront of serving specialty coffee in El Salvador.   The entire experience was made all the better by deftly crafted espressos, cappuccinos, and coffees, courtesy of Flora Ayala: 9th place winner at the 2009 WBC.

From there we took off into the mountains to visit our first farm, “Los Pinares,” owned by Senior Hector Velasquez.  From the second we stepped out of the bus (that had done a heroic job of muscling itself up the steep, dusty inclines) it was obvious that all the pictures in the world hadn’t done a bit of justice to the sights, sounds and scents of an active farm working right in front of you.  The neatly organized raised beds allowed us to see and feel perfect snapshots of each point in the early drying process, the rooftop patio served as a larger final drying location and fantastic viewpoint for the lush hillsides, the roaring wet micro-mill relieved countless beans of their skin and pulp with ease, and the thick trees tempted all of us with ripe cherries that were simply too delicious to abstain.  Enduring the pains of a recent appendectomy, Hector was more than helpful answering questions about his farm, methodology, and common trials.  He explained that cash flow is one of the major dilemmas that all smaller production farmers struggle with.  Constantly faced with the decision of selling their coffee directly to a mill (get paid now) vs. processing it themselves and separating lots (don’t get paid for months), many farmers are caught balancing their ideals with what reality dictates.  Ernesto, one of the farm’s managers, later stated,

“To do this, you have to truly love coffee because it’s a lot of work.  It’s all in the little details.”

Day 2:
The second day took us far outside the busyness of city life, to the northwest reaches of El Salvador.  It was here that we were able to visit two fantastic farms, “La Roxanita” hosted by Senior Don Nacho and “Los Planes” owned by Senior Sergio Ticas.  Placing 1st and 6th in the Cup of Excellence competition last year respectively, each farm was equally impressive and unique.  The landscape at La Roxanita was shaped by volcanic activity years ago, leaving incredibly rich soil and sharp inclines as the foundation for production.  Senior Nacho had many different processing methods being utilized, including Honey and special preparation Natural spread across large raised beds.  Los Planes came naturally equipped with a beautiful lagoon that coupled as the farm’s water supply for processing.  Improving the farms efficiency further was an ingenious system of recycling nutrient rich water that had already been used for washing, reducing waste and allowing the active enzymes to speed along fermentation.

Our day also included a full cupping session (40 coffees!) generously coordinated by the ACPROA cooperative, based in the La Palma region.  We were able to meet many of the co-op’s 40+ members and enjoy the results of all their hard work this season. 

Day 3:
The next day took us to Seniorita Maria Isabel’s farm: “Ayutepeque.”  Isabel is a true innovator in coffee farming, recently having released her personally developed fertilizer “Sopa de Bruhas” or “Witches Soup” that was specifically designed for coffee plants.  There were countless testimonies to be heard about its effectiveness; while coffee production had fallen over the last season, those that utilized Isabel’s fertilizer saw increases in production and, in some cases, quality! 
From Ayutepeque we traveled to one of El Salvador’s main coffee hubs, Cuzcachapa.  It was our first stop at a large production mill and a complete lesson in dry processing.  Much of the wet-milling was done for the season, but the vast patios were covered with drying pergamino.  Hulling, weight-based sorting, and optical sorting were all in full operation within a veritable fortress of bagged coffee.   The conveyors for hand sorting were mostly void until our arrival, when we were given opportunity to search for defects in an endless stream of green dots that rushed by our unskilled hands.  Amidst the fantastic tour we paused to cup another collection of great coffees, some that we’re very excited about…

Day 4:
The last full day of the trip we ventured up the side of the Santa Ana volcano to visit two farms owned by Senior Fernando Lima, “Santa Elena” and “Campanula.”  Reaching over 1800 meters above sea level, Campanula is one of the highest altitude farms in El Salvador.  The farm overlooks the crater-lake Coatepeque, with a view that rivals any that I’ve seen before.  Senior Lima’s farm was a gorgeous forest full of various coffee varieties, including Pacamara, Bourbon, and Yellow Caturra.

I can’t imagine a better introduction to Origin than what we experienced in El Salvador.  Each farm had unique characteristics in size, processing, and coffee varieties; as well as a distinct overall personality.  Each day presented new information, new experiences, and a deeper understanding of knowledge that already existed.  It became very clear that to consider coffee farming a static, formulized venture would be a grossly inaccurate generalization.  However, there was one truth existed in them all: producing fantastic coffee requires an intense amount of work and attention to detail.  Beyond that, those farmers that dare to strive for the best quality take on huge financial risks with absolutely no guarantee of reward.  It was amazing how many times the phrase “we didn’t make any money” came up, in respect to failure at attempting new processing methods, battling government mandates, and always being at the mercy of weather.  One farmer, when asked how they survived against so many uncontrolled factors, simply shrugged and said, “We are in God’s hands.”

Our sincere gratitude goes out to all those that made El Salvador such a great success, we look forward to another amazing adventure in 2013!

-Matt Brown

We just want to say a quick thanks to all of the roasters that donated coffee for the send back to the respective producer of their lot of coffee in El Salvador.  We are so excited that these hardworking farmers get to enjoy some really awesome coffee roasted by you for the holidays.  We are sure they will take great pride in tasting your coffee and keeping your bag in their homes.

Thank you all!

Olympia Coffee Roasting, Verve, Octane/Primavera, One Line, Sumas Mountain, Sight Glass, The Great Lakes, Oddly Correct, Roast Coffee Co, Lucky Goat, and Populace