Twenty years ago, Sergio Ticas Reyes inherited a small farm from his grandfather in the mountainous region of Chalatenango in northern El Salvador. Together with his wife Isabel, he started growing coffee in an area that was not at all associated with quality. That's why more than one coffee enthusiast raised an eyebrow when Finca Los Planes came second in the 2006 edition of the Cup of Excellence. Sergio and Isabel's efforts are a direct reason why coffees from the Chalatenango region are now a sought-after commodity on the speciality coffee market.
At the family's own processing mill, the coffee is wet-processed with fresh water from local springs, while a ratio of one coffee tree per shade tree ensures healthy and sustainable biodiversity. They have cows and other livestock, and among the coffee berries and shade trees on the farm are deer, ducks and many rare bird species.
Our Cerro Los Tamales coffee consists of pacamara beans and is grown on a hilltop of the same name. The hilltop, "Cerro", is named after a story from Sergio's childhood, where three of his grandfather's cows suddenly disappeared one day.
The cows remained missing, and they searched for them for days. After finding traces of banana leaves, they eventually found the bones of the cows and traces of cattle thieves, who had slaughtered the animals and disappeared. The banana leaves came from the dish Tamales, which the thieves had eaten. Tamales is a traditional dish consisting of corn dough with various fillings wrapped and steamed in banana leaves. The mystery was solved, and ever since then people have said "let's search Cerro Los Tamales!" when a cow is missing.
Cerro Los Tamales is located between 1,600 and 1,675 metres above sea level and the coffee plants grown here are about fifteen years old. The type of bean grown here is described by Sergio as an excellent pacamara, with notes of citrus and chocolate. Pacamara is a hybrid between maragogue type and pacas and originated in El Salvador over fifty years ago.
From the hilltop, you can look across to the mountains of Honduras, which the Chalatenango region borders. The coffee plants stretch across the hilltop and an area of approximately seven hectares (70,000 m2). The plantation is meticulously maintained and cared for, and a great deal of effort and dedication has gone into the plants to grow the best pacamara beans available.
Solberg & Hansen is proud to have worked with the Reyes family for several years, and the latest harvest of Cerro Los Tamales does not disappoint. It smells of dried fruit and caramel and is a full-bodied coffee with flavours of red berries and plum, with an aftertaste of chocolate.
