El Salvadore Coffee: Mild, Distinctive, and Arabica

El Salvadore coffee is a really good quality coffee (but surprisingly underestimated by coffee drinkers!) among Central American Coffee.

The mountainous terrain and tropical climate of El Salvadore make it ideal for growing coffee. It hasn't always been a consistent producer because of political unrest and civil wars but the country produces very fine coffee beans with a distinct and pleasing flavor.

In fact, El Salvadore's economy used to depend on Salvadore coffee for its income but with the advent of cheap coffee beans around the turn of the century, it makes up only 3.5% of the country's GDP.

But now farmers are now beginning to grow coffee again with their eyes on the specialty coffee market. As well as the shade-grown variety of Arabica coffee beans, farmers have been experimenting with sun-grown varieties, often to mixed reviews.

Milder Beans: Balanced Flavors

If you like mild coffee, you will probably be a fan of El Salvadore coffee. For years this coffee has been underestimated and only faintly praised by critics that preferred the more robust beans from other countries. However, El Salvadore is proud of its consistent processing and the balanced, sweet flavor of the beans they produce. They have a variety of "estate" (limited origin) coffees that will appeal to nearly any palate.

Improved Marketing

When you read or hear about El Salvadore Coffee, you will more than likely come across the term "Itzalco". This is a project that is working to reposition El Salvadore as a distinguished coffee producer by creating a market comprised of estates and cooperatives that meet Itzalco criteria.

This involves altitude and grading standards meant to make the quality of the coffee superb and consistent. By the way, an "estate" is not an aristocratic vacation farm but refers to a cooperative farm shared by crop producers as well as large private farms. The term "estate" refers to a specific growing area or a single crop.

New Times: New Varieties

Since the fairly recent civil war in El Salvador, growers have experimented with high-yield, sun-grown hybrids of Arabica beans. But coffee tasters from North America prefer more traditional, shade-grown beans the new Arabica often gets poor reviews. Called Pacamara, there are two varieties that both fared well in taste tests. They produce medium bodied coffee with a soft, sweet taste and a wonderful aroma.

One of the main regions for coffee farms is the slopes of the Illamantepec volcano which has rich, fertile soil of the type coffee plants love. You will find the beans to have an amazing aroma, rather like butterscotch or toffee, very pleasing. Although the fine aroma doesn't transfer fully to the coffee when brewed, pressed or dripped, it does impart a hint of honey to the rich flavor.

Roasted from Light to Medium

Medium roast beans are very fragrant, too, producing a hearty and full-bodied coffee that also doesn't live up to the aroma of the beans but is nevertheless very satisfying and unique.

The lighter roasts, organically grown and otherwise, are the best when it come to coffee from El Salvadore. They have been described as woodsy, chocolaty, and like sugared autumn leaves! The light roasts are full-bodied, flavorful and vaguely sweet.

All in all, coffee from El Salvadore provides a higher quality of taste and is enticingly aromatic. The increasing numbers of farms being certified as organic also make this coffee very earth-friendly.

So, if you are looking at Salvadorean coffee in the market, a bag of these terrific beans could provide you with a rather delicious alternative to the coffees of Brazil or Colombia.

And finally...

Wherever you are, remember "Only Coffee Beans Make Great Coffee"! And enjoy that cup of coffee!

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