Finca Miravalle is owned by Luis Duarte, and is located in Apaneca, Ahuachapan, not too far from the Santa Ana volcano. It’s part of a much larger group of coffee plots, a few of them demarcated by cultivar separations, and the larger plots a mix of cultivars. Miravalle is perched at roughly 1500 meters above sea level on the verdant slopes of the Apaneca-Ilamatepec mountain region. Duarte has kept his farm planted in Bourbon and Pacamara for the most part, despite the susceptibility to leaf rust. Many farmers are replanting with disease resistant varietals, but Luis Duarte has chosen to continue with these cultivars because of the commonly held belief that they taste superior to most disease resistant hybrids available and manages to prevent leaf rust and fungal outbreaks with good farm practices. Here lies one exception, a lot separation of the disease-resistant H1 hybrid called Centroamericano. This cross between the Ethiopian landrace Rume Sudan and Timor Hybrid was produced to have disease resistance, and good cup quality. This variety, and other H1’s like it, were created to introduce greater genetic diversity into the genetically stagnant coffee population. One downside to H1 hybrids is that farmers can’t propagate plants from the seeds they produce, meaning they must buy new coffee plants for replanting.
Cupping notes from Sweet Maria’s:
The dry fragrance has a convincing sweetness of caramel, and a raw sugar note that’s like reduced cane sugar (what we call “panela” in Colombia, or “piloncillo” in Mexico). The wet aroma is very sweet and remined me of sundae toppings like warm caramel and butterscotch. Full City+ roasts develop smokey bittersweetness, like smoked semi-sweet chocolate chips, that shifts to high % cacao bar in a long lasting finish. Like all our Miravalle coffees this year, this Centroamericano selection stands out as an exceptional chocolatey espresso option at Full City and Full City+.