The soil and elevation in which a coffee is grown can greatly impact the natural flavors and characteristics of a coffee bean. El Salvador, once one of the top four producers in the 1970s, is primarily known to carry Bourbon and Pacamara varieties, both Arabica. Bourbon is famous for its sweet, balanced finish, whereas Pacamara is a hybrid between Pacas and Maragogipe varieties, known for being a bigger bean than usual, and praised for its complex, fruity flavor profiles, such as chocolate and berries.
Given that Salvadoran Arabica coffee is mostly shade-grown at high altitudes and under strict guidelines, this consistently yields high-quality coffee that is often classified as specialty-grade, the highest quality coffee classification in the coffee industry.
What makes El Salvador Coffee Special?
Salvadoran coffee is special due to its unique growing practices and varieties:
- Varieties: Bourbon variety takes about 60% of El Salvador’s coffee production, along with Pacamara, which is a hybrid between Pacas and Maragogipe.
- Shade Grown, Strict Standards: Salvadoran coffee is grown at high volcanic altitudes, 2,950 to 5,400+ feet. The higher the altitude, the slower the bean development, allowing the bean to become denser with refined tasting notes.
Flavor Profile and Tasting Notes of El Salvador Coffee
As you may know, the soil and elevation in which a coffee is grown can greatly impact the natural flavors and characteristics of a coffee bean. Its major variety, Bourbon, is famous for its sweet, balanced finish, whereas Pacamara is a hybrid between Pacas and Maragogipe varieties, known for being a bigger bean than usual, and praised for its complex, fruity flavor profiles, such as chocolate and berries.
- Profile: sweet and balanced
- Tasting notes: Chocolate, nuts, caramel, honey
- Body: Balanced and smooth
- Process: Washed or honey processed
Sourcing and Origins of Salvadoran Coffee
El Salvador has quite a few growing regions, but the most popular would be the Apaneca-Ilamatepec region, which produces over half of the country’s coffee. A few other popular coffee growing regions include:
- Alotepeque-Metapán
- Cacahuatique
- Bálsamo-Quezaltepec
Our single-origin, Salvadoran coffee comes from our longest relationship with Finca Montealegre, from El Salvador’s Bálsamo Mountain Range.
Why choose our Salvadoran coffee
We intentionally establish and maintain long-standing relationships with all of our coffee producers. We have partnered with Finca Montealegre since 2015.
All of our coffees are 100% USDA certified organic, specialty grade, and sustainably grown. We make sure that all of our coffee bags are traceable back to the exact farm and lot. One of the main reasons we started Mayorga was to also make sure we pay our farmers a fair price. By working directly, we eliminate the middleman and instead use that to support our partners.
Best Brewing methods for Salvadoran Coffee
Here are some best practices for making our El Salvador Montealegre at home.
First, let’s start with your brewing method of choice:
Our coffees are designed to work well with a variety of brewing methods, from regular drip coffee to pour-overs, French press, and espresso. Others may opt to make cold brew, moka pot espresso, or even Aeropress.
The most important part is going to be selecting the perfect grind size:
To achieve the best flavor for your brew, you will want to select the ideal grind size. Here are some common grind sizes we recommend:
- Drip Coffee: medium grind
- Pour Over (V60): medium to fine grind
- French Press or Cold Brew: coarse grind
- Espresso: fine grind
- Moka Pot: medium to fine grind
Water quality is just as important, and a step many people tend to skip:
You would think water is water, and you can use whatever you have (in many cases, you can), but when it comes to coffee, the fresher and purer the water, the better the final cup will taste.
Using fresh water clean of chlorine and chemicals, and rich in minerals helps extract the best flavor out of your coffee. We recommend prioritizing bottled or fresh, filtered water for brewing.
Coffee to Water Ratios
At Mayorga, we recommend starting with two rounded tablespoons of freshly ground coffee to
8oz of water as a healthy start, and adjusting according to your taste.
Comparing our El Salvador Coffee with our other origins
