Start the new year off right with our latest single origin, El Cipres, a fruity natural-processed coffee from the volcanic slopes of El Salvador.
The Ups and Downs of El Salvador Coffee Production
El Salvador may be Central America’s smallest country, but this densely populated coffee powerhouse has punched above its weight for centuries. The country is blessed with ideal coffee-growing conditions—some 20 volcanoes contribute fertile soil, while towering peaks offer a diversity of microclimates.
Starting in the 19th century, coffee production became a vital source of income, and by the 1920s accounted for 90% of all El Salvadoran exports. Despite its size, by the 1970s the country was the world’s fourth-largest coffee producer. Much of this growth was driven by, and benefited, a small group of rich landowners who dominated the coffee sector for generations.
Increasing political and social unrest in the 1970s culminated in the Salvadoran Civil War that lasted from 1979 to 1992. In the aftermath, agrarian reforms broke up many of the biggest coffee estates and redistributed farms to landless workers. Today, 95% of coffee farmers cultivate fewer than 20 hectares and estate size is capped at 245 hectares.
Like other Central American countries, El Salvador has suffered from a population exodus in recent years as many mostly young men travel north to the United States. While this has left the coffee sector with labour shortages, it has also meant more opportunities for women farmers who now own and manage a growing number of estates.
El Salvador’s production has declined significantly from the highs of the 70s. Like so many coffee-producing regions, climate change has had a huge impact, while El Salvador was one of the countries most affected by the coffee leaf rust crisis of the early 2010s. Almost half of all coffee farms were impacted, which contributed to rapidly falling harvests throughout the 2000s. Between 2012 and 2014 alone, annual coffee yields fell 60%, and today the country accounts for less than 1% of world production.
Despite this, El Salvador has built and retained a reputation for producing particularly high-quality coffee, something that this new single origin from El Cipres exemplifies.
A Generational Farm Growing a Renowned Coffee Variety
El Cipres is nestled on the northern slopes of El Picacho, part of the towering San Salvador volcano northwest of the country’s capital. The farm has been in the same family since 1880 when Dr. Emilio Alvarez Lalinde emigrated from Colombia. Today, El Cipres is managed by the Alvares Gallardo family, who have worked to improve the farm and earn Rainforest Alliance certification.
One of the innovations El Cipres has introduced (or reintroduced) is actually an old practice, known as agobia or agobiado. This involves bending the coffee tree’s main stem and tying it to the ground so that the tree keeps producing coffee while new shoots grow vertically.
The farm is made up of 90 hectares of coffee-producing land and a further five hectares of natural forest. The farm rises uphill in a thin strip, climbing from 1070 metres above sea level all the way up to 1800 masl. This particular lot comes from about 1400 masl, and is made up of the Red Bourbon variety.
The Bourbon variety originated in Ethiopia before being taken to Yemen for cultivation. However, it takes its name from the island that would eventually be renamed Réunion after French missionaries brought it with them in the 1700s. After it was introduced to Brazil around 1860, the variety quickly spread around Latin America.
While once very popular among Salvadoran farmers, and known for its excellent cup quality, Bourbon is highly susceptible to coffee leaf rust and other diseases. This has led it to fall out of favour, but its renowned flavour profile means some still persevere.
This particular natural-processed lot is deliciously chocolatey, with notes of raspberry and brown sugar. El Cipres made up part of the 2025 edition of our ever-popular Figgy Pudding Christmas blend, but now it gets the chance to stand alone as our latest single origin coffee. Enjoy!
