El Salvador San Jose Honey

This El Salvador is a yellow honey processed (puled natural) coffee on the San Jose estate by farmer Rolo Ramirez. It is the Pacas varietal which was an offshoot of the bourbon varietal.

Being a honey coffee, it is sweet with a nutty creaminess and has mild fruity undertones. The fruit is less prominent than in a natural-processed coffee, but it is apparent. You don't have to use your imagination too much. There are tastes of tart cherry and plum and citrus. A coffee like this appeals to pretty much everyone in the world, because if they want "normal coffee" it's not so weird that they find it unusual. However, if you like interesting coffees, there is enough here, that you can sip at it with great satisfaction and keep going back for a refill. Honey coffees tend to be our most requested and popular coffees, and El Salvador in particular has been a favorite with our customers for several years.

We have some El Salvador microlots coming later this summer, but San Jose Estate was able to produce a whopping 260 bags of this coffee, which makes it extraordinarily affordable compared to other honey processed coffees. Usually they are done in very small lots of anywhere from 2 to 20 bags.

By definition, a honey coffee has had the sugars of the coffee fruit imbued into the pit during the processing, so it is a delicate bean that is susceptible to scorching. Home roasting units won't have a problem, but if you have a large drum roaster, don't preheat it above 350 degrees. Then nudge the heat up gently, evenly, get it through the 1st cracks, maybe wait 30 seconds, let it out. If in doubt, err on the side of being too light. As you get darker, its still nice, but it loses its undertones, however, honey coffees do add a lot of sweetness and crema to espresso blends at this roast level. As you get into the 2nd cracks the sugars burn and it loses its appeal altogether. Try to keep the roast at 15 minutes or less.

This coffee arrived in the US in August 2016.