José Alonso Álvarez Portillo owns two farms, Fina La Joya and Finca Costa Rica, in the Chalchuapa municipality of Costa Rica. He grows Red Bourbon and a variety called Kenya, which is likely a local hybridization of an SL-28 or SL-34 variety that is unique to El Salvador. His farm consists of 5 manzanas of coffee production.
Coffee was first cultivated in El Salvador in the 19th century, and it its beginnings it was only for domestic consumption. In the middle on the century, the government encouraged the people giving tax breaks, exemption from military service for coffee workers and elimination of export duties for new producers. By 1880, coffee was an exportable product and was becoming more important to the economy.
Coffee production flourished throughout the 20th century, reaching its peak in the late 1970s. By 1980, coffee was responsible for the 50% of the gross domestic product. The civil war of 1980 affected the production of coffee and the production was decreased.
Ending the civil war, Salvadorian producers started investing on technology in the farms, and also new coffee varieties were planted and the Institution of Coffee was created. All of these important factors, helped to develop the coffee industry. In the following years, coffee production becamean important economic factor in El Salvador.
The coffee of El Salvador is known for its old-growth heirloom Bourbon variety, which was first cultivated in the early 1800s. El Salvador, compared to its counterparts in the region, has preserved a substantial amount of Bourbon varieties due to the civil war: During the war years, while other countries were introducing Catimors and Catimor hybrids, El Salvador's attention was elsewhere, and the heirloom varieties remained. Farms now have old-stock Bourbon trees (as old as 50–80 years old in extreme cases).
—Piero Cristiani
