Finca El Martillo is located in Volcan de Santa Ana region, primarily known for the sweet and delicate coffees grown in the surroundings.

Jose Antonio and Andres Salaverria, fifth generation coffee growers, manage a few small farms that work exclusively high-quality micro-lots. El Martillo (Spanish for “the hammer”) is one of such farms.

With an extension of 19.5 hectares only, where Bourbon and Hibrido de San Francisco (a local hybrid of Pacas and the old Bourbon Elite) varietals are grown, this farm is located at about 1700m asl, a remarkable altitude by any El Salvador standards.

The natural lot # 1 stood out from the several ones we blind cupped this year from El Salvador. It is, in fact, a microlot prepared according to the natural process: the cherries, strictly hand-picked when perfectly ripe only, are dried on raised beds. The favorable meteorological conditions, such as the dry and never too hot climate, allow to slow down the drying phase, to perfectly control the fermentation and obtain a cleaner and more complex profile.

This micro-lot presents all the aromatic traits typical of any great classic Salvadors. Full of sweet flavors resembling ripe cherries, wild strawberries, winey must and ripe fruit, this coffee is soft and creamy with strong intensity and delicious sensations on the palate. It works very well as espresso, but this lot is also delightful in filter extractions.

Check out this great video where Jose Antonio Salaverria talks about his approach to coffee growing: