El Salvador, Finca Medrano Coffee Beans

Finca Medrano sits at 1,800 meters above sea level in San Ignacio, a small town in El Salvador's Chalatenango department, just outside La Palma. The farm's plots face predominantly north, with a portion oriented west, an arrangement that moderates direct sun exposure across the growing day. Pepeto trees are interplanted as shade cover alongside banana trees, softening the microclimate for the Pacamara under canopy. The elevation delays fruit development considerably, pushing the harvest window to mid-January through the end of March, later than most lowland lots in the region.

The farm is directed by Jose Medrano, and harvesting is done exclusively by Jose and his stepfather, a deliberate constraint that keeps picking selective despite the farm's small scale. Farming is fully organic and regenerative: spent cherry pulp is returned to the soil as fertilizer, and the trees are treated with a fermented spray the family produces on-site from sugarcane waste, salt, and water. Left to ferment in barrels, the mixture takes on the aromatic character of a fruited mead and is applied to the leaves, where it is credited with deepening leaf color and suppressing leaf rust. Once picked, cherry rests two days in sacks before depulping. The parchment then spends roughly 24 hours in barrels in its own mucilage, without added water, before a final wash in a large collider tank.