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Summary

Description

Hello and welcome to Steve’s Super Secret Stash Subscription for May. I hope you’re all keeping well and coping with the new challenges we’re all facing – and I hope this month’s coffee helps bring a little bit of cheer to your day.

This month I’ve chosen a very special coffee from El Salvador and from Gloria Rodriguez. Gloria and her family are special friends – even though I don’t speak Spanish (thank you internet translation!) who produce some wonderful coffees, of which this is one of my favourites: the Elefante from Finca San José.

Way back in 2005, I got talking online with Luis, a super passionate and knowledgable El Salvadorian working for the Consejo Salvadoreño de Café – the Coffee Council of El Salvador. Luis went on to become a great friend, albeit one I didn’t get to meet in person until 2009, and whilst I was in El Salvador, Luis took me to the farms of Gloria, who would later become Luis’ mother-in-law. We’ve been buying the coffee from San José since then, but they were friends before we were ever able to buy their coffee.

Over ten years later, and the characteristics which originally impressed me about Gloria as a coffee producer continue to ensure her coffee always tastes amazing. She’s focused first and foremost on quality. Every aspect of production is considered, every aspect refined and improved. She works incredibly hard and surrounds herself with good people who respect that and share her commitment to getting the best quality out of the farms.

Elefante was discovered on the farm and got it’s name from the size of the cherries – which are huge. Despite the big cherries, the beans themselves are very similar in size to the Bourbon which is planted on the rest of the farm. When you taste it, however, there’s something special and very different – a crisp, champagne like acidity and effervescence. It’s this elegant and distinctive quality which has seen the Elefante (now planted on many of Gloria’s farms) achieve many accolades over the years, including from Cup of Excellence and from the Speciality Coffee Association.

This year, that champagne-like, effervescent acidity is joined by a delicate peach and raspberry, before it finishes with a sweetness of single cream lingering on the palate.

Country: El Salvador
Region: Apaneca-Ilamatepec mountain range
Nearest city: El Saitillal
Farm: San José
Farmer: Gloria Mercedes Rodriguez Fontán
Altitude: 1,500 m.a.s.l.
Processing method: Washed
Varietal: Elefante

Cupping notes

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Correction	+None
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