El Salvador - El Borbollon
ROAST 
· Farm: El Borbollon
· Location: Santa Ana Volcano
· Altitude: 1400m
· Process: Washed
· Varietal: Red Bourbon
Cupping Notes:
Clean, dark chocolate, roasted cashew, stone fruits and citrus.
More Information
Whilst sampling this year’s harvests from the El Borbollon mill and deciding which coffee to put in our Penderyn Whisky barrels, we were caught off guard by just how good this year’s washed crop of ‘El Borbollon’ was. It seemed a shame to only buy enough for our whisky barrels as we wanted to show just how good the coffee tastes already and give you a chance to experience both the beans’ original and rich character, as well as taste just how much the barrel influences the coffee.
This coffee represents the hard work of 19 different farms located on the Santa Ana volcano, as well as the Alvarez family and the head cupper at El Borbollon Luis Rodriguez. All coffee is delivered to the mill in cherry from the farms where it is washed and floated to separate qualities. The coffee is then pulped before then being fermented overnight.
The fermented beans are then moved to a washing machine where fresh water is used to remove any remaining mucilage and prepare the beans for the drying patios. All water is recycled and is used to move fresh cherries around the wet mill. The washed beans are then taken to the drying patios and kept separate by lot. They will dry there for around 8-10 days, though El Borbollon are experimenting with extending drying periods by laying the beans densely and covering them for parts of the day. It is believed that extending the drying time will result in more complex nuances in the cup.
The dried parchment is then left to rest for around six weeks before being hulled to remove the parchment. Once hulled, the beans are hand sorted by a group of around 40 women who remove any defects. The women work in shifts, are paid above minimum wage and are highly skilled at their work. Once the hand sorting and defect removal is complete, the sorted beans are then packed into GrainPro and 69kg jute bags ready for shipment.
