El Salvador | Los Bellotos | Bernardina | Anaerobic Honey Sunset

Region: Coatepeque, Santa Ana 

Elevation: 1400-1600 masl

About: Finca Los Bellotos is a magical place, perched high up in the mountains close to the Santa Ana Volcano and overlooking the picture-perfect Lake Coatepeque, shrouded in mist for most of the day and creating a unique microclimate for growing coffee. It was here, back in 2008, that farm manager Ruperto Bernardino Merche stumbled across five unusual trees, their cherries smelling and tasting unlike anything else on the farm, with hints of peach, papaya, and mango. Genetic testing later revealed the trees had originated in the Agaro region of Ethiopia, somehow finding their way to El Salvador in the 1930s and surviving undiscovered for decades. This lot is grown from cuttings of those original five trees, and processed via the anaerobic honey sunset method, a technique refined by the Pacas family over several years, honey-processing the cherries before an extended, temperature-managed drying period. The result is a coffee of remarkable complexity, floral and tropical, with a silky, blackcurrant-laced finish.

The El Salvador Los Bellotos Bernardina, roasted by Proud Mary Coffee, represents a unique intersection of rare varietal expression and meticulous post-harvest technique. Grown in the Coatepeque region of Santa Ana at 1400-1600 masl, this lot utilizes the Anaerobic Honey Sunset process. While traditional honey processing involves leaving a portion of the fruit mucilage on the bean during drying, anaerobic methods introduce a controlled fermentation environment to influence the final cup profile. You can learn more about how these processing methods impact the structural development of the bean and its resulting acidity.

The Bernardina varietal is known for its distinct character, which, when paired with this specific processing, yields a vibrant profile featuring peach, papaya, mango, and blackcurrant notes. These tropical and floral qualities can be mapped against the flavor wheel to better understand the complexity of the cup. This coffee highlights the potential for innovation within El Salvador’s established coffee-growing landscape.