El Carmen lies in the heart of El Salvador’s main ‘protected highway’ of forest, a part of the Mesoamerican Biological Corridor System that stretches all the way from Mexico down to Panama. In El Salvador, where more than 80% of the country’s coffee is produced under shade, this eco-system is based mainly in the coffee forest. For this reason, coffee farms such as El Carmen play a vital role as a sanctuary for hundreds of the migratory and native bird species found in this part of the world.
The estate was founded in the middle of the 19th century when Antonio José Alfaro acquired a plot of land near the village of Ataco – meaning ‘Site of Elevated Springs’ in the indigenous Nahuatl language – where he started to produce coffee. His son, Agustin Alfaro, founder of the Salvadoran National Coffee Company, followed in his father’s footsteps and established El Carmen as one of El Salvador’s leading exporters. His efforts were continued by Antonio Alfaro, head of the third generation of this coffee family and are carried through today by Fernando Alfaro, the fourth generation of his family to farm coffee.
El Carmen is an extremely well-run specialty estate and is managed with scrupulous attention detail, with great emphasis placed on maintaining the identity of each lot from the moment its coffee cherries are harvested until the point when the green beans are ready for export. The estate’s coffee is produced under approximately 60% shade cover, which is required for the coffee to ripen evenly. Prior to the rainy season, shade trees are then pruned to about 40% shade to allow the access of light necessary for new foliage growth.
This lot is comprised of the new Elite Bourbon varietal that has been planted in 10 hectares of El Carmen’s land. The bean from this special varietal is longer than a normal Bourbon and has a somewhat improved quality. This is the first year El Carmen is selling Elite Bourbon.
During the harvest, the cherries are hand-picked only when perfectly ripe and delivered to the mill located at the farm. The cherries are sorted for quality, then placed into containers with water and a cocktail of mountain microorganisms, fungus, and bacteria to ferment for 192 hours sealed. This slows down the fermentation process and prevents any growth of mold. Afterwards, the cherries are evenly dispersed on raised beds to dry in the open sun for 25 – 30 days, with constant raking to prevent any mold development. Once drying is complete, the coffee is hulled and prepared for export.
