El Salvador Finca Colomba
In stock
FLAVOR PROFILE
As a medium-light roast, this is a sweet, floral, fruity, well-balanced naturally processed coffee with flavor notes that remind us of black cherry, red huckleberry, and ruby red grapefruit. We actually were initially attacked to this coffee because we were looking for coffees that importers described as having grapefruit flavor notes as it was a flavor we had not experienced in coffee before and were curious to explore. If you are like us and have an aversion to grapefruit because of the bitterness but enjoy the aroma of grapefruit, the grapefruit notes in this coffee are mild and appear to be an aromatic property of this coffee and not one you sense with your taste buds. Using a scale of 0-10, the cup profile has a higher level of sweetness (7-9), moderate acidity (5), a heavier body (7), and no bitterness.
As a medium roast, which is as dark as we can roast this coffee and retain its origin characteristics, this coffee retains a higher amount of sweetness with notes of florals, mild black cherry/red huckleberry. Using a scale of 0-10, the cup profile has higher sweetness (7), lower acidity (3-4), a heavier body (7), and no bitterness.
RECOMMENDED BREWING METHODS
As a medium-light roast, this coffee is versatile and is great brewed as filter/drip, immersion, cold brew, but is not one we enjoy as espresso as it is too acidic for our taste preferences as espresso. As a lighter roasted coffee, we recommend starting with a water temperature between 201-208F depending on brew method as lighter roasts are more prone to under extraction. If the coffee tastes sour, 1) grind finer, 2) gradually increase the water temperature, and/or decrease the amount of ground coffee or water used to increase the extraction. If the coffee tastes bitter and over extracted, 1) coarsen up the grind size, 2) gradually decrease the water temperature, and/or 3) increase the amount of ground coffee or decrease the amount of water used. For filter/drip and immersion, we recommend starting with a brewing ratio of 1:15 (e.g., 20 grams of coffee to 300 grams of water), but this again is an area you will adjust for taste preferences. While we don’t recommend it for espresso, should you decide to try it as such we would recommend using a higher water temperature (e.g., 203-205F) if your machine allows and starting with a 1:3 ratio (e.g., 18 grams of coffee to 54 grams of coffee in the cup), but experimenting with longer ratios until you find the balance of flavors you prefer.
As a medium roast, this coffee is versatile and is great brewed as filter/drip, immersion, cold brew, and espresso. As a well developed medium roasted coffee, we recommend starting with a water temperature of 198-205F depending on the brew method as darker roasts are more prone to over extraction. If the coffee tastes bitter and over extracted, 1) coarsen up the grind size, 2) gradually decrease the water temperature, and/or 3) increase the amount of ground coffee or decrease the amount of water used. For filter/drip and immersion, we recommend starting with a brewing ratio of 1:15 (e.g., 20 grams of coffee to 300 grams of water), but this again is an area you will adjust for taste preferences. For espresso, we would recommend starting with a water temperature of 200-202F and a 1:2 ratio, but be open to experimenting with smaller and larger ratios to find the balance of flavors you prefer.
ABOUT THIS COFFEE
Producers: Mario Valiente and José “Fofo” Adolfo / Single Estate Finca Colomba
Country: El Salvador
Continent: Central America
Region: San Ignacio, Cajamarca
Varietals: Pacamara
Process: Natural
Altitude/elevation: 1500-MASL
Green Coffee Certifications: None
Harvest Period: March 2023
Transparency
Want to learn more about this coffee and the producers who make it possible? Want to learn more about the prices we paid for this coffee? We paid $8.00 per pound for the green coffee. Our goal is to create more transparency about our purchasing decisions so that you can make as informed a buying decision as possible. Click on the following link from the importer we purchase this coffee from, Hacea Coffee Source, to learn more about this coffee and the producers who make it possible: