It’s been said many times but we will say it again; Cult of Done is no boring house espresso. Our latest iteration is proof of just that as we consecutively release four coffees from one farm - Finca San Francisco (FSF).
For the last three years we've been purchasing coffees from FSF in El Salvador. The coffees grown there by the Salaverria brothers, Jose Antonio and Andres, owners of JASAL, have always impressed us with their clean and sweet character. This year, rather than taking a bulked lot from the entire farm as previous, we've been able to purchase four coffees from four seperate areas of the farm, known as tablóns. The individual tablóns are parcels of land sitting at various altitudes around the farm and planted with diverse varieties. As such Cult of Done v24 is a consecutive string of four distinct coffees, currently Las Ranas (translate: ‘The Frogs’) followed by v24.1 - Loma Linda, v24.2 - Santa Rita and finally v24.3 - La Independencia.
The farm itself is set on the western side of the Santa Ana volcano in the Apaneca-Ilamatepec mountain range. The wide range of growing areas means the tablóns sit as low as 1300m above sea level and as high as 1665m where FSF largely produces Bourbon and Hybrido San Francisco; the Hybrido being a naturally occurring hybrid found on the mountain, which neither ourselves or the owners know a great deal about. In addition, small amounts of Sarchimor and Red Catuaí are also grown and can be found in the Santa Rita and La Independencia respectively.
With a project as ambitious as this, it is important to know that all four coffees are clearly separated from tree to cup. FSF is able to ensure such high levels of control and separation thanks to JASAL simultaneously playing the role of farmer, both wet and dry miller and also aiding export of the coffee. This level of involvement is relatively unique in coffee producing countries, in stark contrast to East Africa and other Central American countries where the dry milling, and quite often even the wet milling, is seldom done by farmers themselves.
The jewel in JASAL’s crown has to be its prestigious wet mill, ‘Beneficio Las Cruces’. The largest building within the Las Cruces wet mill is over 100 years old and said to be one of the locations where Che Guevara hid during his journeys through Latin America. More important than any links to famous Guerrilla fighters, the wet mill is maintained in a meticulous fashion, often operating twenty-four hours a day during peak harvest, ensuring the coffee is remarkably clean and ripe.
The mill produces natural, honey, pulped natural, washed and soaked coffees and all four of the coffees we are releasing as v.24 this summer have been soaked. This process is fundamentally the same as a washed process but with one additional step. Once the cherries have been pulped and run through the mechanical scrubber, instead of sending the parchment coffee straight out to the patios or beds for drying, it goes to a large tiled tank, covered with fresh water and allowed to soak overnight. This extra step brings further clarity, focus and angularity in the cup giving the coffee more sweetness and ultimately a more rounded flavour.
We couldn't be more thrilled and excited to be launching this quartet of tablóns as Cult of Done. Not only are we looking forward to seeing how each coffee differs in the cup, but it's also a great opportunity to examine further layers of complexity, beyond origin and variety alone.
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