It's been two weeks since I left the cold weather of Wisconsin in search of amazing coffee here in Central America.  I spent the first 10 days exploring new ground and making new friends in Guatemala.  I've spent the last four days reconnecting with old friends and diving deeper into relationships here in El Salvador. 

Due to inclement weather back home, my colleague, Jess Imig, who was originally scheduled to arriver here on Wednesay was delayed a day.  So, while awaiting her arrival, I "went to work" with Fernando Lima, one of our direct relationship partners here in El Salvador.  Fernando was planning to spend the day visiting his lower altitude farms where the coffee harvest is already finished. When the harvest is complete in these farms, the work is far from over.  Fernando and his workers have just a few short months before the rainy season begins which they spend pruning the coffee plants and the shade trees as wells as preparing the fields for new plants.  Fernando and I visited three different farms to check on the pruning progress.  It was very interesting for me to get to see this aspect of the farming practice as I wasn't familiar with it before now.  Again, due to timing, I'll wait until I return home and provide a more complete article on the theory and practice behind pruning.

Thursday evening, Fernando and I traveled to the San Salvador airport to meet Jess...having just left behind 20 degree weather and 10 inches of snow, she was very excited to arrive!

On Friday morning, we were joined by an old Stone Creek friend, Chris Hallberg.  Chris invented the SMUG (www.smugcoffee.com) that was tested in our stores last fall.  Chris is currently spending a year studying in San Salvador, so it was great to meet up with him.  Chris, Jess and I ventured out with Ernesto Lima to visit the Las Nubes farm in the upper altitudes of the Santa Ana volcano.  Las Nubes is the farm where our El Salvadoran coffee came from last year and we're hoping to get more this year.  Since this farm is at a higher elevation than the farms I visited with Fernando, pickers were still finishing up the harvest.  It was great to introduce Jess and Chris to a coffee farm and for their first view of coffee cherries.  It was also great to think that in just a few short months, these very cherries could be green coffee in our warehouse back in Milwaukee.

Today we visited the Cuzcachapa Cooperative and cupped 10 different coffees from various members of the cooperative.  We cupped the samples blind, meaning we didn't know which farms they came from.  Interestingly, Jess and I had very similar picks for our favorites.  Maruicio, the cooperatives head cupper, also agreed with our top picks.  When the coffees were revealed, we found that two of our top choices were coffees from the Lima Family that we have ordered in the past - Las Nubes and Santa Josephita. I'm very excited to get more samples of these coffees home and try them with the rest of our group!

Tomorrow morning, Jess and I will hop a bus back to Guatemala where we will meet up with Rene and Byron Garza.  The Garzas are close friends of the Lima Family who have a coffee farm near the Coban region of Guatemala. We'll spend the evening and part of Monday visiting their farm and trying some of their coffee. On Tuesday morning, we head home to the our loving familes, friends and the cold Milwaukee winter.

I'm not sure if I'll have internet access after tonight, so my next post may come from back state side. Until then!

-Steve

Jess Cupping at Cuzcachapa
  

Jess and Steve with Ernesto Lima at Finca Las Nubes