El Salvador - Black Honey

Producer:	Finca Lemus Bella Vista | Thelma de Gutierrez
Region:	El Salvador - Concepción de Ataco, Ahuachapán
Altitude:	1,200m
Process:	Pulped Natural (Honey) and Dried on Raised Beds
Certification:	Conventional
Tasting Notes:	Pineapple, Starfruit, Strawberry, Lavender, Velvety

Flavour

A delicate and uniquely flavoured coffee with notes of:

• Pineapple
• Starfruit
• Strawberry
• Lavender
• Velvety

Description

The El Salvador Finca Lemus Bella Vista - Black Honey Anaerobic is super clean and bright; soft fruit, citrus and floral tones are right upfront and on the stronger side.

The slow dry honey process does add a little fruitier tone to the cup but it's mellow and by no means ferment like the Ethiopians. By taste I would think this to be a washed coffee, by the looks, a natural processed. The slow dry really give this cup a sweet front end to it and awesome complexities with a little higher acidity.

Honey Process

This is a Black Honey process coffee, meaning that once the coffee cherries are harvested, most of the fruit is removed. What's left is a little bit of the mucilage from the fruit. The cherries are then left to dry, but constant monitoring and rotation is required because of the humidity.

Achieving the Black Honey stage takes the longest amount of time, sometimes as much as two weeks to dry properly. A final rinse and dry will often leave a coffee bean with floral or honey notes, along with a little more viscus texture.

Black honey requires more humidity and slower development and is, therefore, covered in more shade than with the red honey process. It is usually 100% covered by mucilage and requires a more extended drying period of about 30 days.