Later this month we will finally be launching the long awaited and deservedly hyped Varietal Series, featuring coffee from El Porvenir and La Gloria in the Apaneca-Ilamtepec Region of El Salvador. This series provides the opportunity to taste 4 astonishing coffees from the same family of producers with separated varietals. The series will range from a blend of El Porvenir’s bourbon and typica to one of the rarest cups of coffee you will ever taste: a nano lot (300lbs) of an unknown varietal we will be referring to as the Elephante due to its unique size and burst of flavor in the cup. Our goal in this series is to offer an opportunity that many do not get to experience. Many of us know the difference between a gala and granny smith apple, pinot noir and shiraz wine, cherry and roma tomatoes, but very few outside of a small selection of coffee professionals have ever experienced the difference in coffee varieties.
Here is a preview of the coffees, the farms, and the Rodriguez family.
The Coffee:
Elephante…Juicy fruit, clover honey, sparkling acidity.
Farm: El Porvenir Producer: Gloria Rodriguez Altitude: 1,400 masl Washed.
The Elephante refers to an extremely limited and unknown varietal that Luis Rodriguez discovered on his family farms in recent years. Over the past 2 years, Luis has studied these trees, planted new varietals, and tasted small batches only to be totally wowed by the unique character and flavor. This is the first year he has collected enough of the Elephante to export and MadCap will be the only supplier of all 140 pounds coming to the United States. Act quickly as this coffee will not last long. The large coffee cherry packs plenty of flavors that come through in the cup in a stunning fashion. When squeezing juice out of cherries from this tree we saw nine juice droplets, compared to the typical one or two in most other coffee cherries.
Naranja y Amarillo…Bright acidity, deep mango and papaya.
Farm: El Porvenir Producer: Gloria Rodriguez Altitude: 1,400 masl Washed.
This lot is separated Orange (naranja) and Yellow (amarillo) Bourbon. Unlike the typical bourbon varietal that is seen in the El Porvenir, these ripen to orange and yellow. Both varietals offer a slightly fruitier and more acidic forward cup. The Orange Bourbon gives flavors of melon, mango, and papaya, while the Yellow Bourbon gives a forward citrus and body. The two Bourbon derived varietals create a very lively coffee.
El Porvenir…Big body, sweet, citrus, chocolate, caramel
Farm: El Porvenir Producer: Gloria Rodriguez Altitude: 1,400 masl Washed.
El Porvenir was one of our initial coffees on the menu in 2008 when we began roasting at MadCap. It was the year El Porvenir was awarded the Cup of Excellence and we are excited to be working with Gloria and offer her coffee again. The coffee is a blend of Bourbon with some Typica from her third generation farm El Porevnir. Of the four coffees in the Varietal Series this is the tamest, yet very sweet, with a great body and notes of citrus, chocolate and caramel.
Pacamara, La Gloria…Bright, lemon, creamy and delicate
Farm: La Gloria Producer: Luis and Majo Rodriguez Altitude: 1,400 masl Washed.
La Gloria is located just up the road from El Porvenir sharing a very similar terrior. This coffee is made up of the Pacamara varietal—a hybrid of the Maragogipe and Pacas variety that has become incredibly common over the past few years, particularly in El Salvador where much work and development of the varietal has occurred. The beans are very large in size yet low in density, making it one of the more complicated coffees to roast. However, our roasting team has confidently delivered on these profiles, allowing for one of the most fascinating delicate cups, with great body and snappy acidity.
The Producers:
We first saw coffee from the Rodriguez family when we purchased El Porvenir in 2008, a Cup of Excellence winning coffee produced by Gloria. Gloria is a third-generation coffee farmer who everyone loves, running a very tight quality and ethics-focused business. La Gloria is owned by Luis and Majo Rodriguez, Gloria’s daughter and son-in-law, who named the farm after their mother. We have been in contact with the family ever since purchasing the Cup of Excellence Coffee back in 2008 and are excited to have the opportunity to continually keep working closely together with fantastic professionals that are easily as fanatic about their work growing, harvesting, processing and separating as we are about roasting and brewing coffee. Together Luis and Majo have over a decade of experience in Specialty Coffee in El Salvador concentrating on bringing innovation in farming, growing, processing and even relationships with roasters. You can read more about Ryan’s travels to El Salvador this past year here.
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