Overview

Finca Los Amates, located in the southern part of the Apaneca mountain range, in the department of Ahuachapán, west part of El Salvador, has belonged to the same family for four generations. The cultural practices that produce exceptional coffees have been passed down from parents to children, in the case of both owners and employees. Many of the latter have worked at Finca Los Amates for their entire lives.

The winning lot comes from the highest area of the farm, from coffee trees of the Bourbon variety which are protected from the sun and the ravages of nature by large and strong shade trees indigenous to the area. This is an important natural reserve for the local wildlife, including raccoons, squirrels, armadillos, and wildcats as well as numerous plant species that thrive there. Finca Los Amates uses only small amounts of fertilizers or other chemicals, relying instead on its fertile soil and the cool, humid climate that results from the three rivers and numerous springs on the property.

All coffee is processed in a wet mill located within the property. Immediately after the talented workers pick the ripest coffee beans, these are then hand-sorted and only the very best go through the pulp removal process and natural fermentation. In order to protect the environment, the Los Amates mill functions without external electrical connections. It generates its own energy instead from the flow of a nearby river. The river’s pure, crystalline water, which comes from a spectacular spring inside Los Amates itself, is also used in the pulp removal process.

After the coffee is thoroughly cleaned, it is then sun-dried for two to three weeks until it reaches an optimum humidity level of 12%. Next it is stored in brand new jute bags. This thorough process, both in the fields as well as in the mill, is what produces the exceptional quality of Los Amates coffee and allows it to have similar characteristics than coffee from other higher-altitude farms.

Finca Los Amates is also involved in providing social help to its neighboring community. These programs include the construction, repair and maintenance of communal roads; subsidies for the purchase of implements and fertilizers to be used in the farming of staple-food-crops by the local people, and monetary help for the introduction of solar-cells for electrical generation to be used in the private homes of local people of limited means. Finca Los Amates also maintains a Catholic chapel and a clinic for the use of its neighboring community, as well as a small school for children inside the grounds of Los Amates itself. It also provides financial help to churches of other religious denominations nearby.

Additional Information
Location: Cantón Los Amates, Jujutla
Coffee varieties: Bourbon
Type of Shade: Ingas and mountain trees
Average Annual Rainfall: 2,600 mm
Average Temperature: 25º C
Type of Soil: Claiysh loam
Annual Production: (60kg) 843 bags
Mill and company where lot was process: Los Amates mill
Other crops: Bananas
Fauna: Birds: Sparrow hawk, coati, agouti, gualcachia, owls, raccoons, squirrels, rabbits, wild cats, etc.

GPS Coordinates
Latitude: N 13º 49’ 21.5”
Longitude: W 89º 51’ 03.8’’