EL Carmen Estate Natural
إل كارمن أستيت
EL CARMEN ESTATE is located at 1,300-1400 meters above sea level in El Salvador’s Apaneca-Ilamatepec mountain range, one of Central America’s prime specialty coffee producing areas. The estate has been
farmed by the Alfaro family for over a century. El Carmen Estate lies in theheart of El Salvador’s main ‘protected highway’ of forest, a part of the Mesoamerican Biological Corridor System that stretches all the way from Mexico down to Panama. In El Salvador, where more than 80% of the country’s coffee is produced under shade, this eco- system is based mainly in the coffee forest. For this reason, coffee farms such as El Carmen Estate plays a vital role as a sanctuary for hundreds of the migratory and native bird species found .in this part of the world.
The estate was founded in the middle of the 19th century when Antonio José
Alfaro acquired a plot of land near the village of Ataco – meaning ‘Site of Elevated Springs’ in the indigenous
Nahuatl language – where he started to produce coffee. His son, Agustin Alfaro, founder of the Salvadoran National Coffee Company, followed in his father’s footsteps and established El Carmen as one of El Salvador’s leading exporters. His efforts were continued by Antonio Alfaro, head of the third generation of this coffee family and are carried through today by Fernando Alfaro, the fourth generation of his family to farm coffee. Associated in a family owned company called Agricola San Agustin. El Carmen
is an extremely well-run specialty estate and is managed with scrupulous attention detail, with great emphasis placed on maintaining the
identity of each lot from the moment its coffee cherries are harvested until the point when the green beans are ready for export. The estate’s coffee is produced under approximately 60% shade cover, which is required for the coffee to ripen evenly. Prior to the rainy season, shade trees are then pruned to
about 40% shade to allow the access of light necessary for new foliage growth.
During the harvest, the red and orange Bourbon cherries are hand-picked only when perfectly ripe and processed the same day.
The red and orange varietals are
processed separately. Red and orange (also known as ‘pink’)
Bourbon coffees are widespread
through El Salvador but are typically
inter-planted, picked as they ripen
and processed all together. The natural processed beans are washed
with pure spring water, and then sun-dried on African beds and clay
patios for 22 days. Once the coffee is
dried, the coffee is stored and left to
‘rest’ for a minimum of 60 days under controlled conditions to reach
uniform humidity and color. Finally,
the beans are
prepared and all defects removed
and screened to uniform size
