From origin
Cup of Excellence, markets, farms and the pulse of Salvadoran coffee. Open a story and taste the country.
In November 2020, hurricanes Eta and Iota affected Central America. FEWS NET estimated a 5.9% drop in El Salvador’s 2020/21 coffee production and 168,000 fewer agricultural workdays.
At the 2020 Cup of Excellence auction, Harrods and Difference Coffee bought the Divina Providencia lot at $80.10 per pound. The UK consolidates its place in the premium market for Salvadoran coffee.
Anaerobic natural combines whole cherry or mucilage with controlled fermentation without oxygen. Divina Providencia (CoE 2020) and Siberia (CoE 2021) brought the technique to the international cupping table.
At the 2020 Cup of Excellence auction, a natural anaerobic Pacamara from Finca Divina Providencia reached US$80.10 per pound — the second highest price ever recorded in the Salvadoran competition.
At El Salvador’s 17th Cup of Excellence, the international jury cupped from global ACE hubs because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Salvadoran quality reached the world even though no one flew to San Salvador.
Between 31 May and 7 June 2020, tropical storms Amanda and Cristóbal damaged coffee farms in El Salvador. ACAFESAL estimated about 150,000 quintales lost, with rust outbreaks driven by humidity.
Pacas is a natural Bourbon mutation discovered in 1949 at San Rafael, Santa Ana, by Fernando Alberto Pacas Figueroa. A dwarf plant, denser planting and the genetic base of Pacamara: today it accounts for roughly 25% of national production.
At Cup of Excellence 2019, the washed Bourbon from Los Pirineos — Gilberto Baraona, Usulután — scored 90.37 points and second place. Fifth generation with Diego Baraona: eastern El Salvador at the top table.
Honey processing leaves part of the mucilage on the parchment and dries on raised beds. In El Salvador it has rewarded lots such as Santa Rosa (90.57 in 2019), La Bendición (2024) and Santa Rosa (2025): sweetness, body and cleanliness when skill follows.
J. Raúl Rivera and Finca Santa Rosa won the 2019 Cup of Excellence with a honey Pacamara scoring 90.57 points, grown at 1,600 meters in Alotepec-Metapán. Jorge Raúl Rivera’s legacy drove the farm.
In 2008, Ruperto Bernardino Merche found five distinct trees at Los Bellotos. Genetic analysis revealed a new variety, Bernardina, more rust-resistant than Bourbon and already present at excellence competitions.
In June 2016 IARC, the WHO cancer agency, moved coffee from Group 2B to Group 3 after reviewing more than a thousand studies. There is no demonstrable carcinogen in the drink; extreme heat in the cup deserves a different reading.
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