In 1905, Petrona Palacios de Díaz bought a small piece of propriety in the hills of Chalchuapa. She decided to name the propriety San Joaquín. Saint San Joaquin was the son of Santa Ana, the holy lady that protects this department.

Alfredo Pacas, a fourth generation of owners, is now head of F.A Pacas y Cía. Alferedo remembers when his great grandmother use to tell him that she received the land with only 17 hectares of coffee, but she decided to grow more. “It is still a very difficult place to move about, but at that time, my Grandmother was traveling in wagons pushed by ox just to supervise the harvest and the plantations”, he said.

Alfredo is proud to walk into the field and show why San Joaquín is the farm of the morning sun. Due to its location, all the coffees trees only receive the natural light before noon, which makes an exceptional and natural way to ripen the cherries.

Alfredo with his working team Ana Maria Gálvez and Edwin Oviedo have a secret to harvest the best beans. At the picking season they tell the workers to select only the cherries of the trees that have a slow ripening in order to have berries with more essential oils.

After the cherry picking, the owners store the coffee in silos to keep the freshness before starting to process the beans.

“I struggle to keep the family tradition not only by working hard with this land, but also by giving better working conditions to all the people involved. That’s the only way to maintain our quality “, Alfredo explained.

Other Characteristics:
Agricultural Practices: Conventional
Average Annual Rainfall: 2,200mm Average
Temperature: 18ºC
Month(s) of Flowering: March-May
Number of Flowerings: 2
Type of Soil: Sandy-loam
Type of Shade: Pepeto peludo, Liquidambar, Chapultapa, Ujushte, among others
Annual Production: 250 bags (60kg)
Mill and company where lot was process: Beneficio Vivagua, Pacas Martinez