El Salvador Pacamara 02

Finca Los Angeles is a beautiful 23 manzana planted with only Pacamara farm situated in the Ahuachapán mountain range in the west of El Salvador. This farm is part of the Los Naranjos group headed by Sigfredo Corado a retired professor of Agronomy from the National School of Agriculture. The farm is part of the Renacer Program (Reborn in Spanish) which is a technical coffee field school and educational program for producers in the area to learn about better farm management practices. This program is funded by Raices (Roots) and supported by Catholic Relief Services in El Salvador.

This year they have 60 students and at Finca Noruega where the technical school is based the students work the test plots where they can implement the knowledge gained in class before applying it to their own farms. Finca Noruega is 43 Manzanas planted with a range of varieties from bourbon to gesha.

This farm is planted only with pacamara and has been under Sigfredo for 10 years. Since he took on the farm they have used no herbicides to help replenish the soil and nutrients to give a good base for growing coffee once again. The farm is broken into 23 Manzanas with approximately 3000 trees in each section. The farm is beautifully divided with shade trees and wind barriers to protect the trees. The farm is managed on a day to day basis by some of the graduates from the technical school as well.

The coffee is selectively harvested and from here it then is taken to the wet mill and drying beds at Beneficio San Rafael located between the two hills of El Pilon and Cerro Aguila at 1450 masl.

Here the Pacamara is washed and floated, after that the cherry gets laid out on drying beds for between 22 - 25 days where it is moved every hour until ready.