El Salvador – Los Pirineos Lot 9

El Salvador – Los Pirineos

Los Pirineos coffee farm has been in the Baraona Family from more than 120 years, since 1880. Gilberto Baraona is a 15 times winner of Cup of Excellence in El Salvador. The Farm is located at the top of the Tecapa Volcano, in the Tecapa Chinameca Coffee Region. The farm has been the experimental ground for several new varietal projects, such as the Central America F1 variety. Currently Los Pirineos is growing more than 10 new varietals which have just started producing.

The farm and Mill have 50 full time employees and take on a further 75 during the peak of the harvest. Gilberto’s obsession with quality means he pays well above the legal minimum wages to all his staff. He requires far more precision and attention to detail than the average coffee farm and so must invest time and money in the people who manage the processing. Due to the training and support he offers even his temporary staff are consistent from year to year.

Gilberto’s dedication to quality is uncompromising. He has the largest coffee seed bank in private hands in El Salvador and is constantly testing and exploring new options for unique cup character.

This coffee was harvested by hand and then screened for floaters before being pulped and then then fermented for 12 – 24 hours in tiled tanks without water before undergoing a further soaking for 24 hours. The coffee was then transferred to dry on raised beds for 7 days.