Wow, another packed and crazy day. After breakfast at the home of Roberto and Lucia Ortiz, we were back on the road to the Santa Ana region of El Salvador. We went straight to the home of Aida Battle and then on to the J Hill Beneficio to tour the mill and cup some coffees from the Aida’s Special Collection, a group of farms and coffee’s who Aida works with to create special lots.
It's been a packed first two days in El Salvador. We, Liz, Klatch Associate Barista Trainer and I, departed LAX at 12:30am for a red eye into San Salvador. Upon arrival producer Lucia Ortiz of Las Mercedes picked us up at the airport and took us straight to the farm. We drove around and hiked most of the morning, we also talked to the pickers, and sampled some wonderful cherries.
"Big, syrupy mouthfeel and a long, deeply resonant finish particularly distinguish this coffee, but the rich acidity is impressive too, as are the sweetly pungent aromatics: fir, dark chocolate, cherry, almond."
Ethiopian Amaro Gayo, our recently honored Best Single Origin Espresso by Let's Talk Coffee is no longer available, we are completely sold out and do not expect to receive this fantastic bean until next harvest. We highly suggest our new FTO Ethiopian Gedeo Worka, this distinct and diverse beans is brighter, cleaner and equally or more fruitier then the Amaro Gayo.
"Flowers, white wine and tangerine-like citrus soften toward a cocoaish dark chocolate in aroma and cup. Delicately bright, wine-like acidity, silky mouthfeel. Gently tart, chocolate-toned finish."
"Guatemala is a tease of a coffee origin in sensory terms. It would be very difficult in a blind cupping to pick out any of the coffees we reviewed this month with absolute certainty as Guatemalas if they were mixed in with, say, other Central Americas."
After flying back to São Paulo I had some free time to explore before continuing the rest of my trip so I visited a few of the local coffeehouses to see the barista scene in Brazil. First stop was Suplicy, a roaster retailer whose Baristi have won many awards and a few Brazilian Barista Championships. The first thing I noticed was the pink Probat roaster and the pink La Marzocco espresso machine.
Sourcing coffee and visiting our farm partners can be one of life’s most rewarding and fun experiences. It can also be exhausting as I learned on my trip to Brazil this past month where I slept in a different city every night for 9 days and never went to bed before midnight. My trip to Brazil followed 9 days in Colombia where I was an International Judge for the Cup of Excellence. By the time I returned home from Brazil I had worn every piece of clothing, twice, and was ready for some sleep.
