What Makes This Central American Coffee Lot Stand Out?
The champion lot from El Salvador's Las Brumas estate, grown by Ernesto Menéndez, combines Pacamara and Bourbon varieties from a microclimate block above 1,700 meters. The cup is clean and sweet, with cherry, berry, creamy chocolate, and spice sweetness. Menéndez is the only producer to have won El Salvador's Cup of Excellence twice, first with Finca La Esperanza and then with Las Brumas.
His route into coffee was indirect. He took over the family farm after his father died in 1995, having previously shown little interest in coffee, and later worked at two processing plants where he first learned cupping and learned to sort defective beans from sound ones. That background shapes the lot's quality, and it reflects wider Central American coffee growth, where estate history, variety, and microclimate together determine the final flavor.
This article provides an in-depth introduction to the legendary Salvadoran coffee producer Ernesto Menéndez and his champion lot from Las Brumas estate. This lot includes two varieties, Pacamara and Bourbon, from a microclimate block above 1,700 meters, with a clean and sweet flavor profile featuring cherry, berry, creamy chocolate, and spice sweetness. The article details the estate's history, Neto's arduous journey to winning the Cup of Excellence twice, the characteristics of the Pacamara variety, and includes a cupping report and roast level recommendations. It also introduces an overview of El Salvador's coffee-producing regions and Front Street Coffee's recommendation information, suitable for coffee enthusiasts to gain a comprehensive understanding of the unique charm of Central American specialty coffee.
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Brief Introduction
In February 2014, the champion estate Las Brumas of El Salvador—Pacamara and Bourbon varieties.
Ernesto Menéndez is the only legendary figure in the history of El Salvador's Cup of Excellence coffee competition to have won twice, taking the championship with both Finca La Esperanza and Las Brumas estate. The lot now available is precisely the champion production lot from Las Brumas!
Ernesto, whom we nickname Neto, once held an in-depth discussion with fans and Orsir members on the second floor of the Orsir Taichung store, sharing coffee cultivation secrets and his tips for repeatedly winning the Cup of Excellence. During the session, he used Las Brumas beans. The following photos were taken at Neto's in-depth discussion at Orsir:
He is the third generation of his family to grow coffee, deeply influenced by his family and rolling around in coffee farms since childhood. It was not until after his father passed away in 1995 that he took over the coffee farm. During the discussion, Neto told everyone that at the time he did not like coffee. Forced by circumstances, he took on the work of managing the coffee farm. After graduating from university, he worked at two coffee processing plants (J. Hill and Cia., S.A de CV and JASAL, S.A de CV). These two companies gave him his first exposure to quality assessment methods—cupping. In his first blind cupping, his boss was astonished that he could distinguish defective beans from low-quality commercial beans. In 2003, in the CoE national cupping judge certification, he won first place. From then on, using cupping to assess quality and improve cultivation and processing became an important part of Neto's work.
Neto has won a total of 5 Cup of Excellence awards, including two championships—an astonishing achievement in El Salvador's coffee history. The Las Brumas estate now available is the 2012 Cup of Excellence champion. Nesto personally selected the block that produced the champion. The varieties grown in this block include the large-bean Pacamara and Bourbon. He screened the excellent lots and sent them directly to Orsir, making this an Orsir direct relationship coffee.
Las Brumas means "often surrounded by fog." Las Brumas estate should be literally translated as "Fog-Drenched Estate." This is the intersection point of three volcanic mountain ranges. The climate is quite different from Finca La Esperanza on the other side of the Santa Ana volcano, and the coffee flavors each show their own characteristics. Las Brumas is about a 45-minute drive from Santa Ana city. My first trip to Las Brumas was departing from Santa Ana at about 1:30 in the afternoon, and I arrived at the estate entrance around 2 o'clock. Las Brumas starts at an altitude of 1,450 meters, and as the path becomes steeper, the altitude climbs to about 1,750 meters. Above that, there is still primary forest reaching up to 2,000 meters. The scenery is beautiful.
The soil nutrients of Las Brumas come from the ash erupted by the Ilamatepec volcano group, forming excellent volcanic fertile soil. The unique microclimate formed by the three volcanoes of Santa Ana, Cerro Verde, and Izalco, along with the constantly surrounding fog and clouds, gave me the inspiration for the name Brumas. This is actually the real situation at the estate.
This Orsir direct relationship lot comes from Bourbon and Pacamara varieties grown in the champion block above 1,700 meters at Las Brumas estate, with an excellent flavor profile. When Neto talked about his coffee cultivation philosophy, he repeatedly emphasized that carefully picking 100% ripe cherries is essential. He is responsible for telling the pickers when the cherries can be harvested, then carefully managing post-processing details, and keeping a sample of every lot for cupping. In early 2012, the Pacamara lot at the highest point of Las Brumas estate suffered 3 days of strong wind damage. He lost 90% of the coffee cherries and stayed home crying bitterly for 10 full days, not leaving the house. After 10 days, he pulled himself together, turned around, comforted the old employees who had been with him for many years, rallied his spirits, carefully processed the undamaged coffee cherries, selected the most excellent lot to compete again, and as a result won the 2012 CoE championship! When Neto slowly recounted this process at yesterday's discussion, everyone was deeply moved.
When asked how he could win the championship twice, he said very modestly: microclimate, altitude, soil, careful cultivation, and cupping quality control are the necessary conditions. Carefully appreciating his coffees over the years, they all possess excellent growing environment, careful care, careful screening of coffee cherries, and picky post-harvest operations. Below is the appearance of the Las Brumas lot that Neto personally selected for Orsir:
Introduction to the Pacamara variety: Pacamara coffee is a hybrid of Pacas (a Bourbon variety sudden mutation) and the giant bean Maragogype (elephant bean), discovered in El Salvador in the 1950s. It was first cultivated by Salvadoran researchers in 1958. Pacamara is a rare excellent variety under artificial selection, surpassing its parents and perfectly inheriting the advantages of both parent plants. It has the outstanding mouthfeel of the Pacas variety, while the green beans also inherit the large size of Maragogipe. The bean body is at least 70%-80% as large as the elephant bean, with 100% reaching 17 screen size and above, and 90% reaching 18 screen size and above. The average bean length is 1.03 cm (ordinary beans are about 0.8-0.85 cm), the average bean width is 0.71 cm (ordinary beans are about 0.6-0.65 cm), and the thickness reaches 0.37 cm. The bean shape is plump and round. The most distinctive feature of this variety is its lively and tricky acidity, sometimes with biscuit notes and sometimes with fruit flavors, with excellent body and oily mouthfeel. The best quality comes from El Salvador and Guatemala.
[Estate Introduction]: Finca Ataisi is located in the volcanic production area of Izalco in the Sonsonate department of El Salvador. Due to the volcanic influence, the estate's soil contains very rich organic matter. The average altitude of the estate is about 1,800 meters and the terrain is steep, making it one of the highest-altitude estates in the area. The estate is currently run by owner Mr. Rene Martin. Mr. Rene Martin's philosophy is to maintain El Salvador's original traditional cultivation methods as much as possible. Apart from necessary pruning and irrigation, the estate maintains a large area of natural agroforestry ecology. Over 90% of the estate is planted with the Pacamara variety.
In addition to excellent cultivation, Finca Ataisi also has its own coffee washing processing facilities. Apart from avoiding price exploitation by handing processing to outsiders, the best part is that it allows for more rigorous processing and careful selection.
Country: El Salvador
Estate Name: Las Brumas
Producer: Ernesto Menendez
Town: Sonsonate
Region: Apaneca-Ilamatepec
Label: Orsir Direct Trade,
Harvest Season: April 2013
Processing Method: Traditional Washed
Variety: Pacamara and Bourbon
Coffee Production Scale: 60 acres
Altitude: 1,700 meters
Cupping Report: Mo+ Roast Level
Dry Aroma: Apple, honey, spice sweetness, floral, berry, lemon verbena
Wet Aroma: Honey, fruit sweetness, cherry, floral, berry, maple syrup
Slurp: Clean, clear sweetness, sweet cherry, red berry, creamy chocolate, citrus, hazelnut, spice sweetness, and a delicate juicy mouthfeel.
Everyone's preferred taste may differ.
You may consider buying a small amount to try different roast levels.
Drop beans during mid-to-late first crack
Drop beans at the end of first crack
Drop beans between the end of first crack and second crack
Drop beans upon touching second crack
Drop beans 10-15 seconds into second crack
Drop beans at the dense stage of second crack
We hope all you roasting experts can find a flavor you like even more.
Many coffee friends may not be familiar with the country of El Salvador. El Salvador is located in Central America, bordered by Guatemala and Honduras to the north, and its western and southern borders are the Pacific Ocean coastline. El Salvador is the smallest country in Central America and also the most densely populated country in Central America. The terrain is mainly mountainous and plateau, with many volcanoes. The Santa Ana active volcano, at 2,385 meters above sea level, is the country's highest peak; the north is the Lempa River valley; the south is a narrow coastal plain.
Although El Salvador is small in land area, it has dozens of volcanoes and is the country with the highest volcanic density in the world, hence it is called the "Land of Volcanoes." The national average altitude is relatively high, and such a geographical environment is very favorable for coffee growth. The western region of El Salvador, near Guatemala, is the main coffee-producing area.
Climate Characteristics: Tropical savanna climate. The plains have a tropical rainforest climate, while the mountains have a subtropical forest climate. The average annual temperature is 25-28°C, annual precipitation in mountainous areas is over 1,800 mm, and the coastal areas receive about 1,000 mm. May to October is the rainy season.
Do not underestimate El Salvador's coffee production. At its peak, it was once the world's fourth-largest coffee-producing country, but decades of civil war nearly crippled the coffee industry. Fortunately, the conflict has stopped in recent years, and the coffee industry has regained its vitality. The only benefit the civil war brought to El Salvador was that farmers' fields were left fallow and they could not catch the train of the most popular Caturra sun-exposed cultivation of the past two decades. As a result, the ancient Bourbon and Typica varieties were preserved. In other words, El Salvador still uses the most traditional shade-grown method of cultivation.
This has a positive significance for enhancing coffee aroma. In 2005, El Salvador's hybrid variety Pacamara made a show of strength at CoE, throwing many international cuppers into disarray, not knowing how to score it. No one expected that this hybrid bean would not only break the existing boundaries of coffee aroma and richness but also expand the visibility of Salvadoran coffee.
El Salvador's specialty coffee is concentrated in the western Santa Ana and northwestern Chalatenango volcanic rock production areas. In recent years, almost all of the top ten in cupping competitions have come from these two production areas, at altitudes of about 900-1,500 meters, mainly Bourbon (68%), followed by Pacas (29%), with hybrid Pacamara, Durazno, and Caturra accounting for only 3%.
The coffee harvest season lasts from November to March of the following year. Coffee cherries are harvested by hand-picking. Most coffee cultivation in El Salvador is done by smallholder farmers, who use traditional cultivation methods: almost 100% shade-grown. The coffee harvest season lasts from November to March of the following year. Coffee cherries are harvested by hand-picking.
Overall, Salvadoran coffee inherits the mild qualities of Central American coffee, with an overall soft, slightly acidic profile and good sweetness. At the same time, it has its own characteristics: an aromatic flavor with a slight acidity, very soft; clean with no off-flavors, with an excellent balance; a smooth, creamy-chocolate-like mouthfeel that leaves a deep impression; the dense mouthfeel in the mouth gives the coffee depth of flavor and a long finish.
Front Street Coffee Recommendation: This lot of Las Brumas champion coffee beans is suitable for pour-over, AeroPress, and various other brewing methods. We recommend a medium-light roast to showcase its lively acidity and delicate juicy mouthfeel. You are welcome to purchase and taste it.
The above content is compiled by CoffeeHunters, a coffee news website.
