Flavour description: A nutty and caramel like aroma. The coffee has a medium intense passion fruit-like acidity with flavour notes black currant, lemon curd and rhubarb pie. It has a long-lasting aftertaste of hibiscus and a bit of a cooling sensation. The body is light to medium and the mouthfeel is juicy.
Category: Curious
Colour: Light Purple
Producer: Ernesto Menéndez
Farm: Los Andes
Varietal: SL28
Process: Anaerobic Natural
Location: Apaneca-Ilamatepec Mountain Range, Santa Ana
Altitude: 1720 masl
Harvested: March 2023
Roast style: Light to medium to enhance the natural flavors of the coffee.
Price transparency: The FOB price we paid for this coffee was 4.2US$ per pound
Ernesto Menéndez is a well-known name in the coffee industry and has won the coveted Cup of Excellence several times. We're so honoured to have his five hectare farm Los Andes farm produce exclusively for Drop Coffee!
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 cupping table.
Los Andes has quite an interesting story. Almost 60-70 years ago, the previous owner of the farm planted SL28 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 natural forest environment that Ernesto is looking for and make the environment really special.
The Kenyan coffee varietal SL28 is citric and vibrant, often with the flavour of black currant. The terroir from Santa Ana in El Salvador is chocolatey and round. This makes the Los Andes SL28 a pretty and nuanced cup profile. Originally planted 65 years ago, the SL28 trees at Los Andes have of course naturally adapted to the conditions in Apaneca and El Salvador and will therefore not taste like a Kenyan coffee per se, it will taste like an El Salvadorian SL28 grown following Ernesto's farming philosophy.
To learn more about Ernesto Menéndez and Los Andes farm click here.
