El Salvador - Loma La Gloria, Anny Ruth - Black Honey

Origin: El Salvador
Region: San Salvador Volcano
Farm & Farmer: Loma La Gloria, Anny Ruth
Elevation: 1200-1750 MASL
Processing: At Farm
Varietal: Red Bourbon
Processing Method: Black Honey
Tasting Notes: Hazelnut, Custard, Milk Chocolate

Each year we source dozens of coffee and almost always among them, the Honey or Naturally processed beans from Loma La Gloria. Anny Ruth, who oversees the process, quality, and traceability of the beans took, over her fathers farm in 2012. She has earned a reputation for quality through the separation of each varietal as well as the excellent use of processing to bring exciting qualities out of coffees that are grown at lower elevations than we usually source. 

Honey Processing is when the coffee cherries have their skin removed along with varying amounts of the fruit matter (or mucilage). The fruit that remains on the coffee seed (bean) changes through enzymatic reactions and oxidation encouraging the bean to develop different flavor compounds depending on how long the fruit matter is left on the seed. We classify the different amounts of time based on the color changes to the mucilage; white, yellow, red, or black. White, meaning the bean was exposed for the shortest amount of time before the mucilage is removed, and black meaning the bean was left until the mucilage had completely darkened, and often completely dried, before removal. The name Honey comes from the sticky quality that the fruit matter left on the bean has before it dries. 

This lot is a Red Bourbon varietal that had just the very outer layer, the skin, of the coffee cherry removed leaving the maximum amount of mucilage in contact with the bean. The coffee is spread on patios, and turned regularly, until the fruit matter has completely dried, before going through a dry mill. This process results in more caramelized sugar notes over the clean citrus you might find in a washed, or the juicy fruit notes you might find in an Anaerobic or Natural Process. We tasted lovely notes of chocolate with hazelnuts, and custard.