Chalchuapa Santa Ana Cooperative, El SalvadorCoffee Bean Intro:

Chalchuapa Santa Ana Cooperative, El Salvador

Coffee region: El Salvador

Cooperative: Santa Ana Cooperative

Coffee varieties: Bourbon, Catuai

Planting altitude: above 1200 meters

Processing method: washed process

Green bean grade: SHG

Coffee region

Known as the "Land of Volcanoes," El Salvador is the smallest and most densely populated country in Central America, and the only one in the region not bordering the Atlantic Ocean. It neighbors Guatemala to the northwest and Honduras to the northeast. However, its reputation in the specialty coffee growing regions has surpassed its size, especially since the early 21st century.

Although coffee cultivation began primarily for domestic consumption in the mid-1700s, over the next 100 years, it became a stable and important crop, particularly in the late 19th century when the country’s importance grew. This was a time when the country’s indigo exports were impacted by the development of synthetic dyes and their widespread marketability.

By the late 1970s, coffee exports accounted for 50% of GDP, but socioeconomic and political turmoil plunged the country into a decade-long civil war. In the 1980s, various land redistribution projects and reforms disrupted the coffee industry, leading to market decline.

Lacking the resources to continue farming, producers abandoned their coffee farms, with many left overgrown and unharvested for years before peace agreements were reached in the 1990s.

El Salvador is broadly divided into five main coffee-growing regions: Apaneca, Central Belt, Chichontepec, Tecapa & Cacahuatique Mountain Range, mostly located on volcanic ash-covered highland slopes or plateaus at altitudes above 1,200 meters.

Most of these regions grow coffee under shade, which has the advantage of ensuring uniform ripening of the beans, increasing mucilage content, higher weight, greater opportunity for sweet polyphenol formation, and allowing the main components of the coffee beans to fully develop.

Coffee trees exposed to too much sunlight will have curled leaf edges, leading to water loss, which is not conducive to photosynthesis, reduces carbon dioxide absorption, and lowers sugar synthesis.

Chalchuapa has a tropical savanna climate, which is mainly distributed in the regions north and south of tropical rainforests, generally between 10 and 23 degrees 26 minutes north and south latitude.

Its defining characteristics are year-round high temperatures, long summers without winters, and distinct wet and dry seasons. The temperature remains high year-round, and in some places, it is even hotter than in tropical rainforest areas. However, rainfall is concentrated within 4 to 6 months of the year, forming the rainy season (under the control of the equatorial low-pressure belt). Equatorial low-pressure belt The other 4 to 5 months see almost no rainfall, constituting the dry season (under the control of the trade wind belt). As a result, the natural landscape is distinctly different from that of

tropical rainforests. Trade wind belt The vegetation here consists of fewer tree species, sparsely distributed, with tall grasses, commonly referred to as tropical rainforests. savannas Green bean grade 。

The grading standard for Salvadoran coffee is based on planting altitude, with the highest grade being SHG:

Low-altitude CS: 500–900 meters

High-altitude HG: 900–1200 meters

Very high-altitude SHG: above 1200 meters

Brewing parameters: Coffee dosage: 15 grams Ratio: 1:15 Water temperature: 90 degrees Celsius Grind size: 80% passing through a 0.85mm sieve Filter: Hario v60 #01 filter Brewing process First pour 30g water for blooming, 30 seconds Second pour Add 95g water (scale shows 125g), completed in about 1 minute Third pour Add 100g water (scale shows 225g), completed in about 1 minute 30 seconds Extraction time 2 minutes, remove filter to complete brewing