El Salvador
Apaneca-Ilamatepec
Andres Acosta
Finca Nazareth
Pacamara
Natural
February
Cherry, Chocolate, Creamy
1600 meters
N/A
69 kg w/ GrainPro
SOLD OUT
Andres Acosta, the owner of Finca Nazareth in Concepción de Ataco, Ahuachapán, El Salvador, is a sixth generation coffee producer from the Ariz-Herrera family. The family has been producing coffee in the Concepción de Ataco and Apaneca municipalities in the Apaneca-Ilamatepec mountain range and growing region since 1875. Farmers in Ahuachapán were the first to grow coffee in El Salvador with seeds brought from Guatemala in the last years of the 1700’s; production then began in earnest in the 1800’s. The Ariz-Herrera family has been bringing sustainability, social responsibility, and employment to the communities around the farm for over 100 years. Their commitment to their community has led them to projects like being one of five local families who created FUNDATACO in 1991, a foundation that helps children from the region join soccer schools and pursue athletic opportunities and scholarships.
Located at one of the highest points in the mountain range with growing elevations of 1500–1650 MASL, Finca Nazareth grows primarily Bourbon coffee in clay loam soil. The coffee is carefully handpicked at the optimal stage of ripeness, hand sorted, and then processed at the family mill in Concepción de Ataco.
This lot of Pacamara coffee underwent Natural processing. Coffee is first floated to sort out any defective cherries. Next, the coffee is fermented for 24 hours in stainless steel barrels, providing an anaerobic environment. Finally, the coffee is dried in direct sunlight for four hours before being moved to shaded drying beds where it is dried for 30 days until processing is finished.
The Apaneca-Ilamatepec mountain range runs through the Ahuachapan, Santa Ana, and Sonsonate departments of northwestern El Salvador near the border with Guatemala. It was from Guatemala that the first coffee seeds entered El Salvador in the late eighteenth century. Coffee production in El Salvador began in these mountains, eventually spreading to other parts of the country.
The Apaneca-Ilamatepec Biosphere Reserve was declared by UNESCO in 2007. This Biosphere Reserve includes forest plantations, coffee plantations, grassland, and crops. There are 12 species of endangered flora and 58 threatened species, as well as 12 endemic species of birds and other animals protected here.
The Reserve includes wetlands that provide freshwater for the country: Lake Coatepeque, the Laguna Verde and the Laguna Las Ninfas. These have aquatic vegetation ecosystems and aquifer replenishment areas due to current volcanic activity.
Almost 4,000 hectares are allocated to conservation as natural protected areas, and 39,500 hectares correspond to shade-grown coffee plantations which interconnect the core zones to enable a flow of flora and fauna, thereby acting as a fundamental part of the Mesoamerican Biological Corridor.
