EL SALVADOR - Miramar (120hrs Cherry Maceration)

Friedhats (Amsterdam)

El Salvador Miramar 120 Filter

Miramar is back in house and this year it’s the 120 hour cherry maceration version. Jamie Catota and his son William are one of the few small producers still living on their farm and producing coffee in the Palo Campana region on the slopes of the Santa Ana Volcano. This coffee is made up of Red Bourbon and Typica varieties and grown at 1650masl, although they are also growing Gesha and Kenya varieties as well. So as last year the Productor team processed this coffee themselves, carrying out a 120 hour ‘anaerobic’ in cherry maceration before drying the cherries on raised beds for 3-4 weeks. In the cup it’s an intense, funky chocolate bonbon!

Before working with Productor, the Catotas were delivering their coffee to a big mill, who would finance them, at high interest rates and then pay them for their cherry at a price below production cost. They were in a debt trap where their cherry deliveries were used to pay interest and they were not able to get out of debt. Productor are paying them more than twice the C-Market price for their fresh cherries picked up at their farm, which means they cover the costs of drying, dehulling and exporting and provide zero-interest financing. This has allowed the Catotas to thrive once again and you can see this in their healthy trees and in the cherries, which are some of the ripest we see every year.

Note: Funky Chocolate Bonbon (chocolate candies FYI)