Ahuachapán | El Salvador
We have been working with the Silva family since 2014 but have been familiar with their coffee since the El Salvador Cup of Excellence Auction in 2005.
Originally called El Belloto, the farm passed from Rafael’s great grandparents to his grandmother Sara Valdivieso Borja. Sara attended school in San Francisco California where she met her future husband, Ralph Hoff, a student from Norway. The couple returned to El Salvador where Ralph learned to love the land, and they renamed the farm in honor of Rafael’s grandfather’s Norwegian heritage. The farm has been in their family now for four generations.
Producer:
Rafael and Carmen Elena Silva
Region:
Apaneca, Ahuachapán
Farm Size:
5 Manzanas
Elevation:
1,500 meters
Harvest Months:
November - February
Varieties:
Red Bourbon
Processing:
Washed, Natural, and Honey
Shade Trees:
Ingas
All coffee at Noruega is hand picked and processed at the Silvas mill, 'Beneficio San Pedro'. Having their own mill enables the Silva's to manage the processing and quality control much more tightly than most El Salvadorian farmers. All coffee is separated by picking date, variety, and lot and carefully cupped to maximise quality.
The coffee cherries were pulped on arrival at Beneficio San Pedro to remove some of the fruit on the outside of the coffee parchment and then they were dried on raised beds in a green house, with workers employed to turn the beans regularly to ensure that the coffee does not over ferment and dries evenly.
The Silvas are very committed to the environment. Initiatives include recycling the coffee pulp, using earthworms to process it to create 'vermicompost' that is used to fertilize the trees. The coffee trees are protected from direct sunlight by native trees which also help to create a thick floor covering of organic material which helps to conserve soil moisture and avoid erosion. In addition the Silvas work hard to avoid erosion by planting natural barriers and drilling holes to improve drainage and minimize flooding. There are rain reservoirs all around the plantation to collect rain especially during the wet season and sustain the farm during the dry.