Notes from our Green Buyer

Lucia Ortiz runs her family’s farm, Finca Las Mercedes, which lies within range of the San Miguel Volcano in Usulutan, El Salvador. She has renovated the steep slopes of the storied family farm with unique varietals from their own nursery, and year after year, we love their coffee, which is why we selected their honey-processed lots for our Christmas offering. Honey-processing removes the skin of the fruit and dries the coffee while it’s still covered in the fruit pulp (which makes it sticky and brings out the coffees sugars or “honey”). This brings out a sweetness and depth that makes it appropriate for this time of year. This is one of our favorite coffee’s from one of our favorite farmers! Enjoy this one ’til New Years, and be sure to brew enough to share with your friends!

Notes from our Roaster

Year after year, the honey-processed coffees of Las Mercedes remain memorable and iconic. They exemplify fermentation done well and have improved with each subsequent harvest. This year’s Christmas Offering is more citric than last year’s, presenting more of an orange flavor note in the cup. Its predominantly a sweet and juicy coffee, which is why we’re using ‘marmalade’ to denote the type of citrus you can expect. What’s less prominent and makes this coffee fit for a Christmas Offering is its cream-y mouthfeel paired with a subtle nuttiness, what we’re calling ‘buttercream’ and ‘almond.’ So, whether you distinctly remember this coffee from last year, or this is your first time brewing it, we’re thrilled for you to enjoy one of our all-time favorites this Holiday season, the Las Mercedes Honey.