El Salvador La Providencia Natural Process

Finca La Providencia is operated by the Pacas family and managed by the father, daughter team of Carlos and Yanira Mendoza.

Both, Carlos and Yanira were born in this farm, so their love for the land is unmeasurable, and the way they care for the trees, the land and the people is very special.

The Pacas' operate their own wet mill to maintain superior processing once the coffee is harvested.

12 hectares (appox. 30 acres) of this farm are kept as wild forest. We recognize the importance of conserving wild life and native trees, so we decided to leave this portion of the land as a wildlife reserve.

Tasting notes: Blackberry, Caramel, Strawberry Jam, Cashew.
Elevation: 4855 ft
Varietal: Red Bourbon
Process: Natural
Farm/Region: Finca La Providencia, Las Cruces, Santa Ana
Fun Fact: Coffee trade in El Salvador accounts for about 50% of the country’s export revenues.

Here are details on how Natural Process coffees are produced.

Coffee cherries are carefully hand-picked at the farm. After picking them, any underripe, dry or green cherry is removed from the batch. The coffee cherries are transported to our mill Vivagua. They cherries are not pulped. They are spread out immediately on the patios for drying. The first 2 days, the layer of coffee is very thin. This is done on purpose. In a thin layer, the coffee cherries can dry faster, preventing risk of fermentation. After the 3rd day, the layer of coffee becomes thicker. This allows the cherries to dry more slowly and evenly. These layers of coffee are moved 5-8 times each day, every day. At night, the coffee is piled up into small batches and covered with yute bags to protect it from dew or unexpected rains. The humidity of the coffee is measured every day. Once it reaches 12%, the coffee is packed into yute bags and stored in the warehouse in a place that is previously assigned in order to preserve traceability. The parchment remains in the warehouse until it is ready to be dry milled and exported.

Thank you to Cafe Pacas for providing this information.

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