Each week Alterra Coffee Roasters (Milwaukee, WI) offers a special coffee/espresso by the pound or cup. This week they are presenting beans from their Featured Farm Series: El Salvador El Cashal.

Alterra Featured Farm Series: El Salvador El Cashal
Alterra’s Featured Farm Series was created as a way to recognize the efforts of the farmers that work hard to produce the best coffees and do what we love to do the most – connect people who want to drink great coffees with the farmers who produce them.

El Salvador El Cashal
Jose Ruben Magaña Romero is the owner of El Cashal, a beautiful coffee farm outside of Santa Ana in Western El Salvador that shares land with several volcanic vents and hot springs. When we first met Don Ruben, he was delivering his coffee cherries to the local cooperative for processing. Since then, with an interest in improving quality, Don Ruben has purchased a Penagos brand ecological wet pulper and installed it on the farm. He is now able to make the most of his excellent microclimate, Bourbon and Caturra variety coffee trees and 1,600 meters of elevation by controlling the wet processing himself. Don Ruben’s coffee is very clean and full, with flavors of apple and toasted nuts. Enjoy!

Espresso Notes from Colin Whitcomb, Alterra Barista Trainer
El Salvador El Cashal – Featured Espresso
The terroir of El Cashal is great for coffee. The farm resides in a volcanic “bowl,” at about 1,600m elevation, and coffee grows on the surrounding slopes. Typically, hillsides are great places to grow coffee, as they tend to catch lots of intense light at certain parts of the day. This intense sun creates a lot of photosynthesis, which is the plant making sugar to feed itself, and these sugars help cherries become flavorful.

Body: Huge. Creamy body melts on your tongue.
Acidity: Piquant, lime-like acidity.
Flavors: Pistachio, citrus blossom, lime. Dense. Slightly herbal finish.