Our El Salvador Las Mercedes Pepinal 1 is back offers flavors of hot cocoa, lemon verbena, and graham crackers. The cocoa with grahams was almost a chocolate brownie, as cooled we noticed rose hips as well. Pepinal 1 placed 1st in the 2006 El Salvador Cup of Excellence auction with a record 94 points. In his December 2006 assessment, Ken Davids of Coffee Review gave this coffee a whopping 92 points.

Heather Perry has a unique connection to this coffee. An opportunity to teach Barista classes for IWCA (International Women's Coffee Alliance) brought her to the Las Mercedes farm in El Salvador. She was walking through the Pepinal 1 coffee trees when her then-boyfriend Ryan popped out behind the trees to propose to her. The ultimate surprise and proposal.

We at Klatch Coffee were drawn to Las Mercedes because of its great coffee, but we found what we fell in love with was the people, the process, and our shared passion for persistently striving to make coffee the best it can be. The Las Mercedes farm process begins with hand picking only ripe, mature cherries, and then carefully screening them before depulping to eliminate twigs, leaves, and other foreign material. At the wet mill, the cherries are received into ceramic tiled ditches, washed with fresh collected rainwater, and immediately fed into a pulper. These pulpers are designed to separate the bean from the flesh of the fruit while leaving each bean intact in its parchment envelope.

Instead of the usual washed process, Las Mercedes uses a “Double Washed” method for the Pepinal 1, otherwise known as the “Kenya Method”. This method moves the coffee into a special water-filled tank to soak for an additional 24 hours. The tank is then emptied, and the process is repeated, filling the tank and letting the coffee rest for an additional 18-24 hours.

After the second soak, the coffee is moved to the drying patios. This process is done in Kenya and in parts of Ethiopia, but the technique varies from place to place.

Finca Las Mercedes is a beautiful coffee farm with owners dedicated to care for their community, their workers, and the environment with the same care that they invest into their coffee. The Ortiz family provides healthcare, food, and clothing to those in the community that are in need. Las Mercedes is committed to ecological care, making efforts to preserve natural wildlife, to maintain compliance with our certifications in the way that the mill’s by-products are disposed of, and to avoid contamination. In the last few years, the Ortiz family has prioritized preservation by planting native trees. We are proud to offer this limited Direct Trade. As part of our Direct Trade relationship, 25 cents of every pound is invested back into the Las Mercedes community, funding community sports programs and the Los Ortiz medical clinic.

Awards

Lot Pepinal 1 placed 1st in 2006
El Salvador Cup of Excellence
auction with a record 94 points.

Ken Davids of Coffee Review in his 92 POINTS - December 2006 assessment describes our El Salvador Las Mercedes Pepinal 1 as: Aroma of sweet tangerine, caramel and muted flowers. The flowers become more pronounced in the cup, saturating the very bright, fruit-floral acidity. The tangerine-like citrus carries into the cup as well, complicated by soft suggestions of black currant and stone fruit. The finish is pleasingly sweet and fruit-toned.Those who enjoy floral delicacy in a light-roasted coffee.

Coffee Review