Los Andes, Anaerobic Natural Bourbon, El Salvador

Origin

• 🇸🇻 El Salvador

Tasting notes

Character

• Experimental
  50
• Funky
  40
• Bright
  30
• Bold
  25
• Sweet
  25
• Clean
  20

Flavour profile: A sweet and chocolatey aroma. This coffee has a medium intense sweetness of dried apricot . Flavour notes of dark chocolate and stewed apples . The bodyBodyThe weight and texture of coffee in the mouth, from tea-like and delicate to syrupy and heavy. Driven by process, roast, variety, and brew method. is medium and the mouthfeel is smooth . Colour: Green Category: Comfortable Producers: Ernesto Menéndez Varietal: BourbonBourbonOne of the two foundational arabica varieties (with Typica), named after Île Bourbon (Réunion). Sweet, balanced, caramel-leaning; parent of countless modern cultivars. Process: Anaerobic NaturalAnaerobic fermentationCherries or depulped seeds ferment in sealed, oxygen-free tanks. Produces intense, unusual flavors — cinnamon, bubblegum, boozy fruit — that divide opinion. Harvest: March 2025 Location: Apaneca-Ilamatepec Mountain Range, Santa Ana Elevation: 1720 meters above sea level Price transparency: The FOB price paid for this coffee was $4.75/Ib . Ernesto Menéndez is a well-known name in the coffee industry and has won the coveted Cup of ExcellenceCup of Excellence (COE)A national competition and auction that identifies a country's best lots each year; winning 'COE' lots command dramatic price premiums. several times. We're honoured and proud to hold exclusivity on all the coffees he produces at Los Andes! Nestled in the Apaneca-Ilamatepec mountain range, Los Andes farm is about 5 hectares, which yields a bit more than we typically buy, but we find it well worth committing to all of the coffee to maintain this valuable partnership. Ernesto holds a lot of knowledge and is always very communicative about how he takes care of the farm, and how he processes his coffees. Walking the farm together with him is like opening a true treasure, he holds so much knowledge and skills from the agriculture, processing and to the cuppingCuppingThe standardized tasting ritual — coarse grounds steeped in hot water, crust broken, slurped from a spoon — used to score and compare coffees. table. Los Andes has quite an interesting story. Almost 60-70 years ago, the previous owner of the farm planted SL28SL28A Kenyan variety selected in the 1930s by Scott Agricultural Laboratories, prized for intense blackcurrant acidity and deep sweetness. trees on the land which had been taken home from a hunting trip in Kenya. As a result, the Bourbon varietal at Los Andes now grows right beside the SL28 trees, some of which are now almost 80 years-old. For comparison, most of our coffees come from plants that are only 3-20 years old. At Los Andes, everything is left to grow "wild" to create a more wild forest environment and the coffee is produced in harmony with the nature. This is also why Ernesto keeps the older plants around, instead of simply planting new ones. The plants age and grow into the naturalNatural processThe whole cherry is dried with the fruit still on the seed. Gives heavier body and big fruit flavors — think berries and wine — sometimes with a fermenty edge. forest environment that Ernesto is looking for and make the environment really spec