El Salvador: Loma La Gloria Unicorn Pacamara

Story

A great challenge the future of coffee production faces is the growing age of farmers across the globe. In Central America, the average coffee farmer is 58 years old. This beckons the question: when these farmers retire, who will grow the coffee? Younger generations are moving towards different fields of employment, and the threat of coffee farms becoming abandoned is very real. This makes the work of young Anny Ruth Courson all the more important and exciting.

The Farm

Finca Loma La Gloria was established in the late nineties by Anny Ruth’s father, Roberto Pimental. A trained civil engineer and practiced businessman, Roberto named the farm after his grandfather’s estate. The farm is located in El Bálsamo near San Salvador, on the Quezaltepec Volcano and spans between 1200 - 1750 meters above sea level and is 219 acres large. Varieties grown on the farm include Pacamara and Bourbon, with some trees up to 60 years old. In 2001, Roberto completed construction of a mill on the property. The potential of this mill was never full realized, though, as it was never put into operation. Instead, coffee cherries from the farm were sold to other local mills, meaning traceability to Finca Loma La Gloria was lost.

This changed in 2012 when Anny took over operations at the farm. From the get-go Anny’s focus was on improving quality and creating traceability from the farm. The mill was put into operation, allowing the coffee cherries to be processed onsite, as either washed, honey, or naturals. The coffee is then dried before being allowed to rest in parchment. Lots are sample roasted and cupped throughout the season to track quality and gain insight on changes that might need to be made to processing. When the coffee is ready for export, it’s dry milled to remove the parchment and packaged into GrainPro lined burlap bags. By keeping control of the coffee from cherry to export, Finca Loma La Gloria is able to consistently produce a quality product year to year.

The Process

Finca Loma La Gloria’s “Unicorn” process is a version of natural processing developed by Mill Manager Francisco Aguilar. Coffee cherries are picked at peak ripeness and hand sorted. The cherries are then allowed to undergo an extended fermentation before being moved to patios or raised beds to dry, depending on the weather. Each lot is allowed to sun-dry for 20-30 days before being collected and stored in preparation for export.

The extended fermentation used in this processing enhances the fruity flavors of the coffee and gives a candy-like sweetness to the cup.