El Aguila - El Salvador 2020 Verified listing

Deep in El Salvador´s westernmost volcanic mountain range, Apaneca-Illamatepec, lies finca El Aguila, or “the Eagle”, named after the colossal neighbouring volcano.   The volcano itself was most likely named after the majestic harpy eagle that sometimes hovers the cloud forests above the farm.  

Initially owned by the Silva family, an established “criollo” family from the small town of Atiquizaya, the property was eventually  transferred by marriage to the Ariz Silva family.  The property has only been dedicated to coffee since the 1940´s, a relatively recent entry by Salvadoran coffee lineage standards, due to its difficult access.   It wasn´t until a road was carved into the silouette of the steep 22 degree slopes,  that it was feasible to make use of the property.   And even then, only 44 hectares are used as a coffee plantation.  The rest, another 20 hectares, have been kept as a primary forest, covered with native tropical trees.

Loamy soils, sunny mornings and cool wet evenings for the better part of the year, in effect, are the foundation for the favorable growing conditions at El Aguila. Most of our effort has gone into carefully analyzing the “terroir” and the differing microclimates within the farm, seeking the right indications of where we correctly marry a varietal with a given terroir.   Our team has been consistent in their observant work towards making El Aguila a pioneer in introducing varietals with organoleptic profiles that are quite unique to El Salvador, while operating distinct farm management practices.

This SL 34 lot was selected from a north facing slope, carefully groomed with relatively few shade trees but surrounded with “Copalchi” tree wind curtains.  The coffee trees are descendants of selected parents in Kenya, brought to El Aguila 10 years ago from our sister farm, El Amel.  

This coffee was cut and selected by hand on February 11th, spending 10 hours in Grainpro bags on its journey from the farm to the SICAFE wet mill, where it was processed. The whole coffee was carefully placed on patios for 3 days to pre-dry before being placed on drying beds, where it dried under sunlight for 40 days reaching an average daily high of 25 degrees and a nightly low of 15 degrees centigrades.

A portion of the proceeds will be shared amongst the 34 hard working pairs of hands that fostered the creation of this lot.