El Salvador
Los Guachipilines
Gloria Imelda Portillo De Diaz

Gloria works on the farm with her husband, Ricardo Adelmo Diaz, and her right-hand worker, Don Jose, who oversees the farm activities and finds local labour during the harvest season. This lot has notes of grape, toffee and vanilla.

Washed process Pacas

Flavour: grape, toffee, vanilla

Body: Acidity:

Roast: omni (filter + espresso)

A brand new female-produced coffee from El Salvador, featuring a not-so-mainstream varietal: Pacamara.

La Palma‘s municipality is located in the Nort-East of El Salvador, near the border with Guatemala and Honduras. Not far from there, we find Los Guachipilines, a coffee farm named after the guachipilin trees (or native inga, a nitrogen-fixing tree common in the region) that covered the land when Gloria bought it.

Gloria Imelda Portillo De Diaz has been involved in the coffee world for over 30 years. It all started when she saw the land they lived on was suitable for coffee cultivation, which could be a source of income for her family.

After several harvests were lost during the fermentation process due to the lack of QC and protocols, they joined Caravela’s Coffee Grower’s Education Program (PECA) in 2016. This provided a solid knowledge base and support network, allowing them to introduce improvements in every harvest. With the help of their

Today, Los Guachipilines has 2.8 hectares planted with coffee trees—70% Pacas, 20% Catuai and 10% Pacamara. Gloria works on the farm with her husband, Ricardo Adelmo Diaz, and her right-hand worker, Don Jose, who oversees the farm activities and finds local labour during the harvest season.

This lot is a washed Pacas that was harvested in June 2022. Once the ripe cherries have been carefully picked and screened, they usually go through a 12-hour long fermentation, extending to 16-18 depending on the weather. Later, the fermented cherries are washed and left to dry for 15 to 20 days on three-level African-style beds. (These are not covered with shade because the weather is humid and cloudy, so all available daylight hours are desirable at this stage.)

Gloria says, “I have had good and not-so-good experiences with coffee and farming, but I have managed to get through them, I am still standing, and I have hope.” She adds: “When I see the trees full of red cherries, I am happy. It is like seeing the fruits of my sacrifices, it shows all the work I have done. […] We continue to do our best, and we have to continue with obtaining fair prices, and we hope that our work is valued.”

All images and information about this coffee and producers have been kindly shared by its importer, Caravela, and edited by us, Sample Coffee (unless linked to or credited otherwise).

Our new recommended brewing window for peak flavour is within days ~10-50 post-roast date.

We’ve recently changed into a Loring Kestrel S35 coffee roaster, which uses a different roasting technology from our previous one. Aside from reaching more nuanced and transparent flavours, we’ve noticed a change in our beans’ aging behaviour. Brewing between days ~10-50 post-roast seems to bring out the best of each coffee, but it may taste fine if you do it earlier or even a few days later. Test, try and adjust to find what works for you!

PS. Please note our packaging still shows our old recommendation. This will change in our next printed batch!

Need any brewing tips?

Head to our brew guides and find your favourite filter method—or head straight to our single origin espresso recipe. If you have further questions, send us an email. We’re always keen to help.

Learn everything about this coffee:

Ethical, traceable sourcing

This page has all the sourcing information (variety, process, region, story, importer, and more) that our importers share with us, and give us permission to use.

The transparency helps us talk confidently about the quality and background of our product, and it helps you know exactly what you’re buying.

Learn more:
Coffee page transparency legend
Our coffee philosophy
Our business approach

Fresh harvest coffee

We only source and roast coffee from each country’s latest harvest season (so the green coffee is never older than 1 year from the time of picking, processing and packing). This ensures the sensory qualities are always at their peak and unaffected by excessive ageing.

Roasted for espresso and filter (best enjoyed black)

Roast style: omni. Omni roasts are designed to brew and taste great both as espresso and filter. Our omni single origins generally sit on Agtron values in the ~70-60 value range. So, technically, they are somewhere in the lighter side of the medium spectrum.

Designed for espresso and filter brewing. Best enjoyed black.

Learn more:
Our Loring Kestrel S35 roaster
Our roasting style and approach

Best brewed within days 15-49 post-roast

The ‘fresh is best’ saying doesn’t apply to coffee (contrary to popular belief). Waiting before opening and brewing your bag of whole coffee beans helps develop peak flavour and acidity.

But heads up: if you buy pre-ground coffee, brew it as soon as possible.

Learn more:
Our recommended brewing window

Try our custom brewing recipes

Our recipes and ratios are tailored to our coffee sourcing and roasting styles, bringing the best flavour and feel out of each coffee.

For pour over, immersion, and other filter brewing styles, check our brew guides.
For our espresso single origins, we recommend a coffee:yield ratio of 1:3:

Dose: 20g ground coffee
Yield: 60g espresso
Total brew time: ~24-28 seconds

This is just a starting point! We encourage you to experiment, taste, and adjust to find the recipe that you enjoy the most.

Learn more:
Our espresso brew guide (single origin)
Brewing ratio calculator

Packaging and sustainability

Bags: ABA-certified home compostable (AS 5810-2010)
Labels: recyclable
Valves (only on +250g bags): general waste
Box and tape (online orders): recyclable

Learn more:
Our packaging

Producer: Gloria Imelda Portillo De Diaz
Country: El Salvador
Region: Chalatenango
Altitude: 1360m above sea level
Variety: Pacas
Process: washed
Harvested: June 2022
Importer: Caravela
Body
Acidity
Tasting notes: Grape, toffee, vanilla
Roast style: Omni (filter + espresso)

Variety

Pacas variety

A natural mutation of the Bourbon variety

The location

Coffee from El Salvador

El Salvador, the smallest country in Central America, is colloquially referred to as the ‘Land of Volcanoes’. Renowned for producing exceptional coffees with great clarity and sweetness. The coffee industry first took off after their primary crop, indigo, declined with the invention of chemical dyes in the 19th Century.

Farm processes

Washed process

Machines are used to remove the flesh from the coffee cherry before being fermented in water, washed again, and finally sun dried. This process tends to result in more distinct, cleaner flavours.