Hermanos Mena - El Salvador

ARANCIA, MIELE 

WHERE AND WHO

The Villa España farm, one of the six farm owned by the Mena brothers, is located near the town of Ahuachapán, in the coffee growing region of Apaneca – Ilamatepec, in the district of Concepción de Ataco, in the extreme south of El Salvador.

The coffees grow under native shade provided by the trees on the farm, at an altitude between 1,350 and 1,500 meters above sea level. The Mena Brothers are the sixth generation of coffee growers, year after year they continues with the progress and improvements in their farms, having implemented a roastery and a laboratory within the coffee mill to guarantee the quality and processes of their coffees.

FROM THE CHERRY TO THE BEAN

This coffee is processed using an unusual process, first they hand pick and select the best cherry, then the whole cherries are spread over patios and covered with black bags which helps the fermentation process. During the day the plastic help to keep the moisture inside the beans to quick the fermentation process. During the night, instead, the plastic helps to reduce the heat dissipation to maintain the right point of moisture. The whole fermentation takes about 120h to reach the right point of fermentation and drying. This process is called combined – honey and helps to express all the fermented notes of the coffee such as fruitiness and vinery notes. 

ABOUT THE VARIETY

BURBON 

The Bourbon variety was born when, in the early 1700s, French missionaries led by Captain Dufougeret-Grenier introduced a coffee plant on the island of Bourbon (now called Reunion). The new botanical variety born from this graft was introduced in Brazil and Africa in the mid-19th century. More productive than the Typica variety but less resistant to diseases. Usually the cup profile is very sweet and with a well balanced acidity to the taste.