El Salvador | Los Bellotos | Bernardina | Anaerobic Honey Sunset

Region: Coatepeque, Santa Ana 

Elevation: 1400-1600 masl

About: Finca Los Bellotos is a magical place, perched high up in the mountains close to the Santa Ana Volcano and overlooking the picture-perfect Lake Coatepeque. It is shrouded in mist for most of the day, creating a unique microclimate for growing coffee. The super rare Bernardina variety was first discovered in 2008 on Finca Los Bellotos by farm manager Ruperto Bernardino Merche, from whom it gets its name. He noticed five different-looking trees from which the fruit smelt and tasted different, giving peach, papaya, and mango notes. Genetic testing revealed that the trees were originally from the Agaro region in Ethiopia, had somehow made it to El Salvador in the 1930s, and survived undiscovered until today. This coffee is from those five original trees! This lot was specially created for Proud Mary and processed via the anaerobic honey sunset method, a unique process refined over several years. This produces a coffee with enhanced complexity and a silky mouthfeel. In this year’s El Salvador Cup of Excellence competition, the Pacas family placed 4th with the Bernardina variety.