FES Portillo — El Salvador / 72H + Natural Process

Origin

This coffee comes to us from Rodolfo Ruffatti, a producer we have been working with since the beginning of Ten Belles Coffee. His farm, Finca El Salvador, has been in the Ruffatti family for 4 generations. Over the years, we have bought several different lots from Finca El Salvador, but this is the first harvest that we have bought the Portillo. El Salvador has become known for its bright and expressive natural processed coffees over the years, and Rodolfo is one of its producers who has come to master the balance between achieving a funky coffee while avoiding one that is too fermenty or simply one-dimensional in its flavour profile.

Project

Before drying as a natural process, this coffee is ‘macerated in cherry’. This means that before depulping, the coffee cherries have been left to rest in low oxygen conditions, where the cherries ferment and the lack of oxygen leads the fruit to break down into different microorganisms than usual. The result of this is more funky and fermenty fruit flavours, many of which are not typically present in traditionally processed coffees. This method is one of Rodolfo’s signature fermentation techniques and the resultant cup profile stands as testament to his renowned abilities. The Portillo variety is part of Rodolfo’s Hybrida project, the purpose of which is to find new varieties that ensure cup quality whilst proving more resistant to the challenges of climate change. This variety was originally discovered by and named after legendary coffee farmer Salvador Portillo, who found that certain Bourbon trees on the Santa Ana volcano had mutated to become shorter and more compact. Mr Portillo spent decades cross-pollinating in order to create a new variety, and Rodolfo has taken up his work, the results of which are the FES Portillo.

Coffee

Whilst the FES Portillo has undergone a 72 hour maceration in cherry, the resultant flavour profile is fruity without being excessively funky. This coffee has a bright and intense tropical fruit acidity, which is paired with the sweetness of red currants and red grapes. The clean and balanced body of this coffee makes it ideal for serving as a fruity yet approachable espresso.