Finca La Buena Esperanza, El Salvador

In 1924, Amalia De Quintanilla had a dream. She wanted to buy 56 acres of land in the Cacahuatique mountains in eastern El Salvador to start her own coffee farm and produce only the very best of coffees – not an easy task in those days as the coffee business was largely dominated by men! She persisted, however, and against all odds she became one of the first female coffee farm owners in the world. ‘La Buena Esperanza’, as she called her farm, was born!

Great coffee from a  great-great-grandson

Now, four generations later, her great-great-grandson Andrés is running the farm with the same passion and determination, keeping Amalia’s dream alive. Like Amalia, Andrés believes that the exchange of information at all stages of the coffee making process, is the best way to guarantee growth and improvement. This is why he regularly pays a visit to everyone involved, from the farmer up until the barista.
We’ve had the honour of welcoming him into our shop and not only did he charm us with his views, knowledge and sense of humour, he also inspired us to try and serve the best cup of coffee in Leuven.

Climate change: improvise, adapt, overcome!

In perfect conditions, all coffee cherries blossom and ripen together, resulting in a single harvesting period. However, due to modern day’s long droughts and unpredictable rainfalls, this pattern got disturbed. The blossoming and ripening do no longer take place simultaneously.

To overcome this problem, Andrés was the first farmer to divide the harvest into three picking rounds, only collecting the ripest cherries at that specific moment in time. Although this system is more labour intensive, Andrés is convinced that it is the only way to keep his high standards up. As a bonus he discovered that each picking round results in a slightly different taste and aroma.

In his search to optimize this harvesting method, he had the women picking the coffee paint their nails in the colour of a ripe cherry, to make sure they only pick the ones that are at their best.

A unique location makes a unique variety!

As mentioned before, La Buena Esperanza is situated in the Cacahuatique mountains in eastern El Salvador. This unique location is one of the main reasons why this coffee, the ‘Tekisic’, tastes like no other.

The Tekisic is a local adaptation of the more famous arabica variety ‘Bourbon’. It is unique to El Salvador and can be defined by both a floral and fruity taste. The fact that it grows in an iron clay soil, which is very uncommon, gives the coffee a full, creamy feel.

Our microlot called Leon is completely surrounded by avocado trees, enhancing its smooth body and resulting in a one of a kind coffee.