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Judging in action, Federico Bolanos and Frankie Shi, both experi-
enced judges.
The variety is so popular that most of coffees entered for competition
were Pacamara. Picture credit: Federico Bolanos of Café Tuxpal.
El Salvador Coffee
El Salvador is still considered one of the most dangerous
countries in the world, due to its active gang violence. There are
guns to be seen everywhere, some producers carry them every
day, and employ security guards to man the mills so that their Friendship & Sustainability
coffees are not stolen. Apart from violence, the coffee producers All of the “Best of Auction” events are non-profit; the
were attacked by the rust disease three years ago, many farms next auction will be held between 4 July to 10 July in Honduras.
were destroyed. Only until now, most of the affected farms are Next year, there will be more countries joining the programme,
back on track. However, none of these stopped the producers in one of them will be Nicaragua. The goal is to be sustainable, to
El Salvador producing good coffee. continue building relationships.
The first time is never easy. The event in El Salvador
would not be smooth without the help from friends.

All cupping equipment were supplied by Consejo
Salvadoreno Del Café.
Event volunteers from 4 Monkeys Coffee Roasters
(San Salvador)
Alejandro Mendez (2011 World Barista Champion)
Alexander Reyes
Daniel Issac Mendez
Joel Moreno
Jonathan Olmedo
Miguel Garcia

Coffee producing mountain ranges of El Salvador. Picture credit:
Grupo Coex and Federico Bolanos of Café Tuxpal.
Honey Process

El Salvador producers are proud of their honey-
processed coffees, but there must be a reason why the country
produces such good quality lots. Gilberto Baraona, owner of 8
times COE winning farm Los Pirineos gave us the answer. The
climate - El Salvador faces Pacific Ocean only, which gives the Sasa Sestic,
country a solid dry season for harvest and processing. Unlike the Coffee Man.
other countries in Central America such as Honduras, which
are next to both Pacific Ocean and Atlantic Ocean, the harvest
season is not as dry. Any disturbance from the weather during For more information about Best of Auction Honduras, please
the honey process can affect the results. contact: Habib Maarbani via habib@onacoffee.com.au
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