The Alvarez Diaz brothers are the fourth generation of their family to farm coffee on El Salvador's Santa Ana Volcano in Apaneca-Ilamatepec. Like their father, they are committed to growing the Red Bourbon varietal despite its susceptibility to coffee leaf rust.

All the coffee grown on Finca La Reforma and Finca Santa Maria is shade grown under native forest and pruned regularly to help improve disease resistance.

This washed lot is processed at the family’s El Borbollon mill where they’re pulped, fermented for up to 15 hours to bring out that trademark sweetness and  transferred to clay drying patios. The clay regulates temperature much better than concrete, resulting in much more even drying of the coffee beans - just another element of the Alvarez family’s excellent management and attention to detail.

Their care shines through in this cup roasted by Cartwheel, which is full-bodied with notes of cocoa, plum and toffee but remarkably clean.