The World Atlas of Coffee: From beans to brewing - coffees explored, explained and enjoyed
Page 23
The growth of the coffee industry came about in part because El Salvador was moving away from its previous dominant crop, indigo, after the invention of chemical dyes in the mid-19th century. The land used to grow indigo had been controlled by a relatively small landed elite. Coffee production required a different type of land, so these landed families used their influence in government to pass laws to push the poor from their land so that it could be absorbed into the new coffee plantations. Compensation to those indigenous people was all but nonexistent, sometimes they were simply offered the chance to work seasonally on the newly established coffee plantations.
By the early 20th century, El Salvador would become one of the most progressive of the Central American nations, the first with paved highways and investment in ports, railroads and lavish public buildings. Coffee helped fund infrastructure and integrate indigenous communities into the national economy, but it also served as a mechanism for the landed elite to maintain political and economic control over the country.
The aristocracy of the time exerted their power through the support of military rule from the 1930s, and this became a period of relative stability. The growth of the coffee industry in the decades that followed helped support the development of a cotton industry and light manufacturing. Up until the civil war of the 1980s, El Salvador had a reputation for quality and efficiency in its coffee production, with well-established relationships with importing countries. The civil war, however, would have a dramatic impact on this, as production fell and foreign markets looked elsewhere for their coffee.
El Salvador’s unusually high percentage of heirloom coffee varieties and agriculturally rich farmland mean exports for its sweet flavoured coffees have increasing potential.
HEIRLOOM VARIETIES
Despite the drop in production and exports, the civil war had an unexpected benefit for the coffee industry. Throughout much of Central America at the time, coffee producers were replacing their heirloom varieties with newly developed high-yield varieties. The cup quality of these new varieties did not match that of the heirloom varieties, but yield was favoured over quality. El Salvador, however, never went through this process. The country still has an unusually high percentage of heirloom Bourbon trees, in total producing about 68 per cent of its coffee. Combined with its well-drained, but mineral-rich volcanic soils, the country has the potential to produce some stunningly sweet coffees.
THE PACAS VARIETY
In 1949 a mutation of the Bourbon variety was discovered by Don Alberto Pacas on one of his farms. It was named after him, and was later crossed with Maragogype, a variety of coffee with very large beans, to create the Pacamara variety. Both desirable varieties remain in production in the region and in neighbouring countries. For more information on varieties, see Coffee Varieties.
This has been the focus of much of El Salvador’s recent coffee marketing and it has worked hard to regain its standing among the coffee-producing countries and re-establish old relationships with consuming nations. Large estates still exist in El Salvador, but there are also a lot of small farms. It is a great country to explore, as there are many stunning coffees, full of sweetness and complexity.
In a sea of ripe coffee cherries at El Paste near Santa Ana, this worker shovels the harvest ready for processing. The Apaneca-Ilamatpec region is the biggest producer of coffee in El Salvador.
TRACEABILITY
The infrastructure in place means that it is relatively easy to retain the traceability on high-quality coffees right back to farm level, and many farms are able to create micro-lots based around process and variety.
ALTITUDE CLASSIFICATIONS
El Salvador still sometimes classifies coffee based on the altitude at which it was grown. These classifications have no relation to either quality or traceability.
Strictly High Grown (SHG): grown above 1,200m (3,900ft)
High Grown (HG): grown above 900m (3,000ft)
Central Standard: grown above 600m (2,000ft)
Although volcanic activity can threaten production, plantations in the Apaneca-Ilamatepec region consistently grow competition-winning coffee due to the excellent soil.
TASTE PROFILE
The Bourbon variety coffees from El Salvador are famously sweet and well balanced, with a pleasing soft acidity to give balance in the cup.
GROWING REGIONS
Population: 6,377,000
Number of 60kg (132lb) bags in 2016: 623,000
Most coffee roasters do not use the region names when describing coffees. While they are distinct, well-defined regions, some would argue that El Salvador itself is so small that it could be classified as a single region, with clearly defined pockets of coffee growing within it.
APANECA-ILAMATEPEC MOUNTAIN RANGE
With a reputation for great quality, this area produces many competition-winning coffees, despite the volcanic activity here. The Santa Ana volcano erupted as recently as 2005, having a massive impact on production for a couple of years. This is the largest-producing region of the country and it was probably here that coffee was first cultivated in El Salvador.
Altitude:
500–2,300m (1,600–7,500ft)
Harvest:
October–March
Varieties:
64% Bourbon, 26% Pacas, 10% others
ALOTEPEC-METAPAN MOUNTAIN RANGE
This mountain range is one of the wetter regions of El Salvador, with over one-third more rainfall than average. The region borders both Guatemala and Honduras, yet despite its proximity to those countries the coffees here remain distinct and different.
Altitude:
1,000–2,000m (3,300–6,600ft)
Harvest:
October–March
Varieties:
30% Bourbon, 50% Pacas, 15% Pacamara, 5% others
EL BÁLSAMO-QUEZALTEPEC MOUNTAIN RANGE
Some of the coffee farms in this region overlook the capital city of San Salvador, from high up on the sides of the Quetzaltepec volcano. This region was home to the pre-Hispanic Quetzalcotitán civilization, who worshipped the feathered serpent god Quetzalcoat, still a common symbol in Salvadorian culture today. The mountain range also takes its name from the Peruvian Balsam produced there, an aromatic resin used in perfumes, cosmetics and medicines.
Altitude:
500–1,950m (1,600–6,400ft)
Harvest:
October–March
Varieties:
52% Bourbon, 22% Bourbon, 26% mixed & others
CHICHONTEPEC VOLCANO
Coffee was late coming to this region in the centre of the country, with barely fifty bags of coffee being produced here in 1880. However, the volcanic land is extremely fertile, and today the area is home to many coffee farms. The traditional practice of planting alternating rows of coffee and orange trees for shade is still common: some believe this imparts an orange blossom quality to the coffee, though others attribute this soft citrus element to the Bourbon variety that is grown here.
Altitude:
500–1,000m (1,600–3,300ft)
Harvest:
October–February
Varieties:
71% Bourbon, 8% Pacas, 21% mixed & others
TEPECA-CHINAMECA MOUNTAIN RANGE
This region is the third-largest producer of coffee in the country. Here they serve coffee with corn tortillas called tustacas, made with salt and dusted with sugar or made with a little panela (cane sugar).
Altitude:
500–2,150m (1,600–7,100ft)
Harvest:
October–March
Varieties:
70% Bourbon, 22% Pacas, 8% mixed & others
CACAHUATIQUE MOUNTAIN RANGE
Captain General Gerardo Barrios was the first Salvadorian president who saw the potential economic value of coffee and it is rumoured that he was one of the first to cultivate coffee in El Salvador, on his property in this region, close to Villa de Cacahuatique, now called Ciudad Barrios. This mountain range is known for its abund
ance of clay, used to make pots, platters and decorative items. Farmers here often have to dig large holes in the clay-like earth and fill them with rich soil, in which to plant their young trees.
Altitude:
500–1,650m (1,600–5,400ft)
Harvest:
October–March
Varieties:
65% Bourbon, 20% Pacas, 15% mixed & others
The powdery remains of coffee shells at La Majada estate in El Salvador are recylced for use as compost. Minerals and trace elements in the waste help nourish soil for the plants.
Washing coffee beans at Finca Vista Hermosa Coffee Plantation, Agua Dulce, Guatemala.
GUATEMALA
Many believe that coffee was first introduced to Guatemala by the Jesuits around 1750, though there are accounts of it being grown and served in the country in 1747. As in El Salvador, coffee only became an important crop in Guatemala after 1856, when the invention of chemical dyes reduced demand for indigo, which was at that time the main cash crop.
The government had already made some attempts to diversify away from indigo. In 1845 it formed the Commission for Coffee Cultivation and Promotion, which produced educational materials for coffee producers and also helped establish a price and levels of quality. In 1868 the government distributed around one million coffee seeds, in an effort to further stimulate the industry.
When Justo Rufino Barrios came to power in 1871 he made coffee the backbone of the economy. Unfortunately, his reforms resulted in the indigenous people of Guatemala being further deprived of their land, as they led to the sale of around 400,000 hectares (990,000 acres) of what was considered public land. These became large coffee plantations. The efforts to stimulate coffee production certainly worked, however, and by 1880 coffee made up around ninety per cent of Guatemala’s exports.
Coffee would again be involved in the country’s politics following the global depression in 1930. Jorge Ubico had come to power and worked to lower the price of coffee to help stimulate export. He built extensive infrastructure, but gave more power and land to the United Fruit Company (UFC), an American corporation that grew to be extremely powerful. Ubico ultimately resigned due to a general strike and protests against him.
There followed a period of democratic free speech, and President Arbenz proposed a land reform act in 1953 to expropriate land (largely that controlled by the UFC) to redistribute it for agricultural purposes. Both large coffee plantation owners and the UFC (supported by the US State Department) fought against the reforms. In 1954 a CIA coup overthrew the Arbenz government and the proposed land reforms never took place. This set the country down a path towards a civil war that lasted from 1960 to 1996. Many of the issues that provoked the war – poverty, land distribution, hunger, and racism towards indigenous people – are still issues today.
Guatemala’s coffee production peaked at the turn of the millennium, as many producers moved away from coffee into macadamia nuts and avocados after the coffee crisis in 2001. Coffee leaf rust has also been an increasing problem for producers throughout the country, damaging a large portion of their production.
TRACEABILITY
Guatemalan coffees should be traceable down to farm level, or down to a cooperative or producer group. While some regions in Guatemala are now protected denominations of origin, the country has a long history of traceability and estates producing high-quality coffee because many farmers have their own wet mills and process their own coffee.
ALTITUDE GRADING
Similar to other Central American countries, Guatemala uses a version of the altitude grading.
Prime: grown at 750–900m (2,500–3,000ft)
Extra Prime: grown at 900–1,050m (3,000–3,500ft) Semi Hard Bean: grown at 1,050–1,220m (3,500–4,000ft)
Hard Bean (HB): grown at 1,220–1,300m (4,000–4,300ft)
Strictly Hard Bean (SHB): grown over 1,300m (4,300ft)
Many Guatemalan farmers have their own wet mills and coffee production facilities, which aids traceability of beans.
TASTE PROFILE
A wide range of flavours are present in Guatemala’s coffees, from lighter, very sweet, fruity and complex coffees through to the heavier, richer and more chocolatey cups.
GROWING REGIONS
Population: 16,176,000
Number of 60kg (132lb) bags in 2016: 3,500,000
Guatemala has been more successful than most countries at defining its key regions, and marketing the coffees from these regions as being quite different from each other. In my experience, there are some flavour characteristics more common in certain regions, but there are no hard and fast rules for this.
SAN MARCOS
San Marcos is both the warmest and the rainiest of the coffee-growing regions in Guatemala. The rains come earlier to the mountain slopes facing the Pacific, so flowering is generally earlier too. The rainfall can provide challenges to post-harvest drying, so some farms rely on a mixture of sun drying and mechanical drying. Agriculture is a large part of the economy in this department, which produces grain, fruit, meat and wool.
Altitude:
1,300–1,800m (4,300–5,900ft)
Harvest:
December–March
Varieties:
Bourbon, Caturra, Catuai
ACATENANGO
Coffee production in this region is centred around the Acatenango valley, which is named after the volcano there. In the past, many producers here sold their coffee to ‘coyotes’ who would ship the cherries over to the Antigua region and process it there. Antigua had a better reputation for coffee, and so it commanded a higher price. This practice is now less common, as coffees from Acatenango can be excellent and are becoming more widely recognized so it is more profitable to keep them properly traceable.
Altitude:
1,300–2,000m (4,300–6,600ft)
Harvest:
December–March
Varieties:
Bourbon, Caturra, Catuai
ATITLÁN
The coffee farms here are located around lake Atitlán. Sitting at around 1,500m (4,900ft) above sea level, the lake has captured the minds of writers and travellers over many years because of its stunning beauty. In the late morning and early afternoon, strong winds are common here and are known locally as xocomil, ‘the winds that carry away sin’.
There are a number of private nature reserves here, set up to preserve the biodiversity of the area and help prevent deforestation. Coffee production is under pressure due to increased labour costs and competition for the labour force. Urban sprawl is also increasing pressure on land use and some farmers are finding it is more profitable to sell their land than continue to grow coffee.
Altitude:
1,500–1,700m (4,900–5,600ft)
Harvest:
December–March
Varieties:
Bourbon, Typica, Caturra, Catuai
COBÁN
This region is named after the town of Cobán, which grew and thrived due to the German coffee producers who held a great deal of power here until the end of World War II. The lush rainforest comes with a very wet climate, which proves something of a challenge to coffee drying. The region is also somewhat remote, making transport more difficult and expensive but there are, nonetheless, stunning coffees coming from here.
Altitude:
1,300–1,500m (4,300–4,900ft)
Harvest:
December–March
Varieties:
Bourbon, Maragogype, Catuai, Caturra, Pache
NUEVO ORIENTE
Unsurprisingly for a region whose name means ‘New East’, Nuevo Oriente is located in the east of the country by the border with Honduras. The climate is dryer here and most of the coffee is produced by smallholders. Coffee production arrived here quite late, beginning in the 1950s.
Altitude:
1,300–1,700m (4,300–5,600ft)
Harvest:
December–March
Varieties:
Bourbon, Catuai, Cat
urra, Pache
HUEHUETENANGO
This is one of the better-known regions of Guatemala, and the most enjoyable to pronounce. The name translates from the Nahautl as ‘place of the ancients’ or ‘place of the ancestors’. This area has the highest non-volcanic mountains in Central America and they are well suited to coffee growing. This region is probably the most dependent on coffee as an export and there are some truly astonishing coffees produced here.
Altitude:
1,500–2,000m (4,900–6,600ft)
Harvest:
January–April
Varieties:
Bourbon, Catuai, Caturra
FRAIJANES
This coffee-growing plateau surrounds the capital of Guatemala City. There is fairly regular volcanic activity in the area, which benefits the soil, but occasionally also endangers life and causes problems with infrastructure. Unfortunately the amount of land under coffee continues to decrease as the city grows and land use changes.