November’s coffee hails from El Salvador in Central America, grown on a small farm in the Quezaltepec Mountain Range, Finca La Esperanza. The Belismelis Family who own the farm are passionate about ensuring they produce high quality coffee beans using harvest and farming best practices to create an excellent product.
The family are so passionate about sharing their knowledge and their work that they run guided tours and coffee tasting events on the farm. Led by the family patriarch, guests are driven around the property in the tray of an old Toyota truck, jumping off periodically for a closer look at La Esperanza’s abundant flora and fauna as well as their coffee trees and processing station. The property borders El Boqueron National Park with much of the land reserved for habitat preservation and the migration of native wildlife. A highlight for many is witnessing the entire coffee production process during their visit and witnessing the Belismelis Family’s passion firsthand.
Though there is a trend in El Salvador to plant crops resistant to leaf rust, the Belismelis Family have refrained from doing so, instead prioritising the quality and flavour of their preferred Red Bourbon varietal despite the more challenging maintenance it requires. The farm’s workers individually select and hand pick perfectly ripe coffee cherries from the trees at altitudes of between 1000-1450 masl between the months of October – March. This dedication to ongoing farming and harvest practices also extends, not just to prioritising social responsibility for their workers and community through health and safety programs, as well as enforcing fair labour prices and providing community healthcare support.
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