Climpson & Sons: El Salvador, San Felipe, Santa Rita, Washed

The coffees from the Salaverria family are some of our all time favourites and this marks the fifth consecutive year we have purchased coffee processed at their Las Cruces mill. Versatile, smooth and sweet, this coffee is typical of El Salvador and perfect for those not quite so sunny summer days.

The lot we have selected this year comes from the San Felipe sector of their larger Santa Rita farm. Santa Rita is set further up the mountain range of Apaneca Ilamatepec, Santa Ana, and is one of the JASAL groups 3 farms with all harvested cherry then delivered into their central processing mill, Las Cruces. Here the coffees are meticulously sorted and each lot is traceable to unique hillsides and sectors of the farm.

We last visited in 2016 and were amazed at their methodical approach to processing each coffee to a unique specification. This particular lot is of their soaked washed process where the ripe coffee cherry is pulped (to separate beans from cherry) and then soaked in fresh water overnight before slowly drying on patios over two weeks. This process is more involved than many traditional washed methods but pays off with comparatively cleaner and more transparent flavour profile.

Now into their 6th generation of coffee history, the JASAL daily operations have always been a family affair and are now overseen by brothers Jose Antonio and Andres Salaverria. Their commitment to community initiatives is an obvious part of maintaining their loyal full time staff with education, housing and free healthcare offered. In a time when many producers are struggling with leaf rust and profitability the Salaverria’s are also investing in environmental measures with much of their production Rain Forest Certified and organic fertilisers used to regenerate their farm.