Microlot

Microlots from El Salvador are sourced from a group of smallholder producers located in the Chalatenango region, in the northern part of the country. Cafe Imports has one employee, Alberto Reyes, that lives full time in El Salvador and works directly with these small-holder producers throughout the year offering sensory and agronomy support. Farms here are small on average (5–15 manzanas, or roughly 3.5–10.5 hectares) and many producers grow classic Salvadoran varieties such as Pacas and Pacamara as well as Bourbon.

Luis Hernandez

Finca Cerro Negro is a 2-hectare farm with about 6,000 coffee trees, owned and operated by Luis Alonzo Hernandez. He grows a mix of varieties, including Pacas, Bourbon, and small about of the leaf-rust resistant hybrid Catimor 90. The coffees are Washed process, picked and depulped before a dry fermentation of between 8–16 hours, after which the coffee is washed and dried on patios for 6–8 days.

When he was younger, Luis Alonso hated working on his grandmother's coffee farm, and he never thought he'd work with coffee himself: Now, after 10 years as a grower, he feels like he has grown into coffee, and he feels like it has meaning because coffee touches everyone in the world. He hopes to expand his farm area, and to plant more Pacamara and some Gesha trees as well.