Overview

Santa Elena I is located at the Cantón "Palo de Campana", on the Santa Ana Volcano slopes, one of the most well known high quality coffee regions of El Salvador. A wonderful view of the Coatepeque Lake can be also appreciated. The farm was acquired at the end of the 70’s but has been devoted to coffee since 1935.

The altitude of this farm goes from 1,400 to 1,720 meters above sea level. Temperature between different seasons goes from 7° C to 25° C (44° F to 77° F). To participate in the CoE, Ernesto Ramón picked the “Tablón El Duraznal” or “Peach tree” because it’s the highest one, so he expected this one to present better cup qualities. Handpicking was performed the last week of March. This is the first time that Santa Elena enters the program with very nice results.

Bourbon variety is mainly grown on its soils; some spots have been also grown with Kenya varieties for experimental purposes and lower altitudes are grown with Catuai. Coffee trees are relatively young with ages ranging between 4 and 20 years old. Weed control is performed manually and erosion is controlled by pit digging and barriers from pruned wood. This farm employs 25 permanent workers and almost 120 during harvest season.

Shade trees are mainly Ingas. Coffee is totally hand-picked between February and March depending on the region's rainfall. The highest point of this farm is really close to Santa Ana's Volcano crater and it is preserved as a natural forest. They process Santa Elena coffee at Serbia mill, natural fermentation lasting 8 hours and sundrying about 9 days.

Additional information:
Coffee varieties: Bourbon, Kenya, Catuai
Type of Shade: Ingas, pepeto, cypress, acorn, copalchi, peach trees, tatazcamite, etc.
Average Annual Rainfall: 3,800 mm
Average Temperature: 16º C
Type of Soil: Sandy loam
Annual Production: (60kg) 250 bags
Mill and company where lot was process: Serbia mill
Fauna: pocket gopher, deers, birds, squirrel, armadillos, etc.

GPS Coordinates:
Latitude: 13º 51’ 13.00” N
Longitude: 89º 36’ 39.00” W