El Salvador San Ernesto Honey

Now in their sixth-generation, brothers Enrique, Rene and Gustavo are running the farm with their father Gustavo still involved as an advisor, giving them the benefit of his experience. Over the years, they have placed in the finals for Cup of Excellence 7 times, as well as gaining accolades from trade bodies and national associations such as Exporter of the Year in 2015 and landing in the top 5 in 2017.

Coffee on this 140 hectare farm has recently been awarded the Denomination of Origin (DO). Certification is given by the cuppers from the Salvadoran Coffee Council under the SCA standards in order to guarantee quality and characteristics of coffee from a geographical region from the Central part of El Salvador which includes the Balsamo Quetzaltepeq Mountain Range and the San Salvador Volcano.

All the Urrutias Estate coffees are 100% shade grown and native trees are planted every year to prevent erosion. The main trees which are grown are the izote and the copalchi which also act as a natural wind barrier.

In 2012/2013 they lost 80% of their coffee plantations to leaf rust, and it takes 5 to 10 years to renew the plantations. They are continuing to replant the coffee trees and are also changing the way the farms are managed; instead of pruning some of the trees, they are systematically pruning the whole parcel of land. Subsequently planting one varietal of coffee on each section of land helps with better management. They used to only offer a washed process, but through communication with their estates, their mill and us here at DRWakefield they understand market trends better and now offer other processes like this honey coffee.

7 hours from being harvested, coffee is pulped at the mill, leaving mucilage still around the parchment. Beans are then layered on a raised bed to dry turned every 20 minutes in the sun for the first 7 days. Normally this translates as a temperature range of 16-30°C with moisture starting at approximately 55% moisture and being taken off the beds at 12.5%.

The parchment coffee is then cupped as it goes to the warehouse, whilst also being rested for 40 days before shipment, to allow the moisture to even out and the coffee to balance flavour and achieve better consistency. Beans are both machine and hand sorted to remove any defects, and cupped again before shipping to ensure full understanding of the bean.