EL SALVADOR, Baraona family, Los Pirineos, Berlin, Usulutan

Producer: Diego Baraona.

Growing altitude: 1600m above sea level.

Botanical variety: Bourbon Elite.

Process: Natural.

Tasting notes: Dark chocolate, plum, melon, blackberry, kumquat flavours.

Roast date: 18 April, 2024 

In Usulatan, on top of the Tepeca volcano, you find Los Pirineos owned by the late producer Gilberto Baraona, and now lovingly under the custodianship of his children.

The farm is located on a volcanic mountain range surrounded by the cities of Berlin, Santiago de Maria and Joy. The cultivation of coffee at the farm was started in 1890 and according to family accounts, the original seeds of the property, and the mother plants were imported from Antigua Guatemala.

The coffee is separated into small to medium sized batches based up on different parts of the farm and coffee varietals. Currently the farm cultivates the varietals Bourbon Elite, Pacas and Pacamara, but the farm has also taken part in a Procafe project growing different varietals. As a result they have plots of native coffee trees, natural mutants and hybrids originated from all over the world.

Los Pirineos farm was one of the pioneers in El Salvador to build its own Micro Coffee Mill. The farm still experiments with processing and drying methods. During the production process well-trained pickers are given good incentives to select ripe cherries only. The coffee is brought to the Los Pirineos Micro Mill in the afternoon to be handsorted of unripes and over ripes..

Jotagallo eco pulpers with mechanical demucilager are used to remove the skin, pulp and about 70% of the mucilage. The parchment is soaked over night in clean water before it’s washed. The coffee is then sun dried under shade on raised beds for 3-4 weeks.

We have for the past years purchased various lots of coffee from Los Pirineos, and could not be any more humbled to showcase the hard work of these fine coffee producers.