EL SALVADOR Finca Majahual Orange Bourbon – Filter

The natural Orange Bourbon is the other side of a coffee we know very well. It comes from the same small planting at Finca Majahual as the washed lot, around 1550 to 1600 masl, but the post harvest work stays on the farm and changes the way the fruit is expressed.
 
Our relationship with Patrick Murray is long enough that we have tasted this project through strong harvests and difficult ones. That context matters to us. We are not buying a coffee once because a sample happened to score well; we are following a variety over time with a producer we know, and learning together where it works and where it does not. Patrick has tried to reproduce this Orange Bourbon from seed in other areas of Majahual, but the young trees have not established with the same strength. The original planting continues to be the reference point.
 
For the natural process, Patrick's team selects ripe cherries and keeps them at Majahual. The whole fruit is dried slowly on raised beds and through the farm's greenhouses under close supervision. Naturals here generally take about 25 to 28 days. Patrick described the approach simply as low and slow. The long drying is not being used to create an aggressive fermentation profile. The aim is to move moisture carefully and preserve the clarity that made us interested in the Orange Bourbon in the first place.
 
This year, the difference between the washed and natural lots was particularly useful to taste. The washed coffee is finer and more linear. The natural carries more fruit weight and sweetness, with red apple, cacao and blueberry, followed by a slightly toasted marshmallow note that stood out immediately during our cupping. It is unusual enough to be memorable without tasting like the process has replaced the variety.
 
Patrick keeps this Orange Bourbon exclusively for Five Elephant. For us, the value of that exclusivity is not scarcity for its own sake. It means we have the time and trust to follow one planting across harvests, taste it in different processes and keep building a clearer understanding of what this coffee can be.