Single Origin
El Salvador - Miralvalle Cup of Excellence #24
A full bodied, medium acidity coffee, with hints of sage and blackberry. Miralvalle is located near the mouth of the Santa Ana volcano. This high altitude growing results in an extremely sweet cup, until well after it has cooled. $19/12oz		Farm: Miralvalle Farmer: Marta Dolores Menendez de Riera City: Santa Ana Region: Apaneca-Ilamatepec Mountain Range Farm Size: 21.00 Hectares Coffee growing area: 21.00 Hectares Altitude: 1850 metres Variety: Bourbón Processing System: Washed & Sun-dried Average Annual Rainfall: 3,000 mm Average Temperature: 21º C Type of Soil: Sandy loam Annual Production: (60kg) 210 bags Mill and company where lot was processed: Cooperativa Cuzcachapa de R.L. International Jury Score: 85.12

Gracefully located at “Potrero Grande Arriba” almost at the top of the Santa Ana Volcano, Miralvalle farm enjoys a breath-taking view, climate, rainfall and the care of her owner. Jaime Riera is a gastroenterologist and also a coffee producer. He inherited this farm from his mother, Marta Dolores Menéndez de Riera a few years ago, and together they still supervise all the work. This farm was bought by his late father, Amadeo Riera y Solsona more than 20 years ago.

Some of the cultural practices they develop at the farm are the continuous pruning of the coffee and shade trees, weed control, replanting and renewing the farm, all of this work using traditional methods. Also, because of the high altitude in which Miralvalle is located the farm ripens slowly, and this year they had to wait until February to harvest appropriately when the farm had evenly ripened. Finding workers around this area is very difficult because people migrated to the lower parts since the eruption of the Santa Ana volcano in 2005. Only 2 people live at the farm, the manager, Francisco Recinos and his wife, but for the harvest, they employ around 70 selected pickers from the surrounding areas, and pay them almost 40% above the legal wage.

Jaime thinks the reason why this farm was awarded this year is the excellent quality of the Bourbón variety, also its altitude and location. He is highly motivated to keep up with the optimum harvest and sorting processes to improve the quality each year. He thinks the key to this is motivating the people that work the farm, teaching them the importance of their role, and improving the benefits for everyone involved.