Filter & Espresso
Cola, orange blossom, hops
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Apaneca - Ilamatepec |
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1,450 - 1,640 meters above sea level. |
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Red Bourbon |
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Natural |
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Rodolfo Ruffatti |
Direct contact with Rodolfo Ruffatti of Finca el Salvador
FES (Finca el Salvador) is a family farm located on the north face of Cerro El Águila in the Ahuachapan /Apaneca-llamatepec mountain range of El Salvador.
The estate was established in the 1920s and purchased in 1934 by Italian Rodolfo Ruffatti Riso from Turin, Italy, who had just landed in El Salvador to start a new life.
Since then, the farm has belonged to the Ruffatti family, and this year, 2020, his grandson, also Rodolfo Ruffatti, who has been a key player in managing the family business for years, will take over, replacing his father.
Location and planting
The farm is located at an altitude range of approximately 1,450 to 1,640 meters above sea level.
It has a production area of more than 70 hectares, and another 20 hectares of wild forest, with an annual production of more than 500 sacks of 69 kg.
The farm has focused on specialty coffee production for years, and in recent years has slowly shifted to exotic varieties such as Pink Bourbon from Huila, Kenia from El Salvador, SL28, Rume Sudan, Pacamara, and 74110 from Ethiopia.
To achieve this transition, they are planting the lower elevation parts of the farm with Tabi, Portillo, and Caturra varieties, intended for volume production and large lots, while reserving the higher elevation parts of the farm (1,500 m +) for the more exotic varieties.
The farm also has tropical hardwood trees that provide shade for the coffee plants.
The El Salvador Farm today
Finca El Salvador, FES, provides work for 30 people year-round.“A farming family lives on the farm, and now that I'm taking over, I'm preparing a plan to open a daycare center for coffee-growing children, so the workers can leave their children when they come to work,” says Rodolfo, who is very excited to have taken over the farm this year.
“Next year's tasting scores will reflect my work this year.”
The main challenges on the farm, Rodolfo tells us, are the lack of access to low-interest loans, extortion by criminal gangs, and the general crime situation in El Salvador.
Coffee processing at FES
All coffee processing is done by the Productor Coffee team, also led by Rodolfo, at the Juayua processing plant, which the team founded to process coffees from their own farms, but also from neighboring farms in western El Salvador.For this natural batch, the ripe cherries are sorted before being transferred to African beds where they are allowed to dry until they reach the ideal moisture level.
FES and Ineffable Coffee
At Ineffable Coffee, we're thrilled to offer this direct-deal batch. We look forward to strengthening our relationship with Rodolfo and supporting him in his new venture as head of Finca El Salvador (FES) in the coming years.
