From the Lucia Ortiz Finca Las Mercedes Farm in El Salvador, we are pleased to offer this outstanding example of Honey Processed Coffee. This coffee has been reviewed at 93 points and Las Mercedes Coffee won first place in the 2006 El Salvador Cup of Excellence Competition. This year's honey is creamy with lemon verbena from beginning to end. A caramel sweetness with a tart green apple finish. Since Pacamara supplies are truly limited, we urge you to order right away to guarantee your share of this rare and most delicious coffee.
Reviewers have described this honey coffee as " Richly sweet-savory. Pomegranate, fine musk, nougat, cedar, a hint of marjoram in aroma and cup. Savory-sweet structure with round, gentle acidity; full, satiny-smooth mouthfeel. Finish consolidates to nougat and pomegranate in the short with musk returning in the long." and "A deeply sweet Pacamara cup with savory undertones throughout, reminiscent of fine musk and marjoram-like sweet herbs."
REGION: Cerro El Tigre FARM: Finca Las Mercedes FARMER: Lucia Abregado De Ortiz VARIETAL: Pacamara ALTITUDE: 1560 M PROCESS: Honey ROAST: Medium
The Pacamara variety is a hybrid cross between the Pacas (from El Salvador and named after the Pacas Family) and the giant elephant bean varietal Maragogipe. Its larger than normal appearance is the reason farmers from Las Mercedes call it "The King Bean" of Central America.
This particular coffee is honey processed. The process starts with the skin removal from the coffee fruit immediately after picking, but the beans or seeds were dried with at least some of the fruit pulp or “honey” still adhering to them. As a result, the pulp adds sweetness and a bit of a fruit taste to the bean. It is Rainforest Alliance certified, meaning it was produced following sustainable ecological and socio-economic criteria developed by the Sustainable Agricultural Network, a coalition of independent, environment-focused non-governmental organizations. A portion of every purchase goes to support community sports programs and medical clinics in the producing community.
We roast different coffees on different days. Please expect to receive your coffee 7 to 10 days after ordering. We ship the next morning after roasting and you will receive it within 3-4 days of it's roast date. If there is a delay, you will be notified.
*Since Coffee is BEST as Freshly Roasted and Freshly Ground before use, we are now offering only Whole Bean Coffee.
We were drawn to Las Mercedes for their great coffee, but what we fell in love with was the people, the process, and their passion to make the coffee so great. It begins with hand picking only ripe mature cherries, and then subjecting them to intense screening before depulping to eliminate twigs, leaves and other foreign material. At the wet mill the cherries are received into ceramic tiled ditches, washed with fresh collected rainwater from their own tanks and immediately fed into a pulper, which consists of rotating disks or cylinders, each one fitted with adjustable knives. These are designed to separate the bean from the flesh of the fruit while leaving each bean intact in its parchment envelope. They then dry the coffee on clay patios to ensure even drying.
The same care and consideration invested in the coffee is invested into the Las Mercedes community. The Ortiz Family is devoted to taking care of those who have helped in their success, by providing clothing, food and health care. In addition, Las Mercedes is constantly making efforts to preserve natural wild life by taking special care of the disposal of by-products from the mill. In the last years, a great effort has been made in planting native trees to preserve these species.
