85.75
Overview
Gloria Rodriguez is a fourth generation coffee grower and lover. She has been consistently awarded in every CoE competition since 2007 for her commitment to quality. Being a woman of great spirit and experience, her role as a female grower has never been easy, but she always finds a solution with a positive attitude and proactiveness. She owns and personally supervises five small farms located in the Apaneca-Ilamatepec mountain range: San Jose, El Porvenir, Nejapa, Nueva Granada and La Lagunita. This was the first year she entered La Lagunita to compete at the CoE competition. Surrounding the Nymph Lagoon, a volcanic crater at the top of the Apaneca Hill, Finca La Lagunita is located at 1,650 m.a.s.l. Within its 4.9 hectares, only 3.5 are dedicated to coffee, grown to heirloom Bourbón variety. The top of the hill, has been kept as a native forest, a sanctuary of hundred years old trees and many birds and animals that blows the visitors mind. This piece of land was Glorias first farm, and she holds it very dear. When her father, Jose Maria Rodriguez decided in 1975 it was time for her to learn all the responsabilities of coffee farming, he symbolically presented her with his higher altitude farm: La Lagunita. What he intended was for her to learn and work with him side by side. The wisemans plan was to have her only daughter earn her own money to pay for her university and expenses, making it a case for Gloria to be near and vigilant of her own crop. Being such a small farm, it has entered into a strong program of rehabilitation to renew some of the exhausted tissue. Careful selective pruning and steam and root bending (agobios) are some of the cultural practices performed for two years now. Every year, Glorias farms employ nearly 65 people during harvest, and all year round she manages a permanent winter works team of 15 to 17 people. The idea is to have a solid trained and skilled working group that receive better wages and working conditions. The ownership of this farm has a short story, however Maria Jose and her husband, Luis Rodriguez have both been in coffee for a while, Maria Jose represents the fifth generation of coffee growers with three years experience in quality and marketing coffee programs like CoE, while Luis, a new grower, has a background of nearly ten years working in the Salvadoran coffee industry as market analyst, coordinating El Salvador s coffee marketing and developing quality and educational programs, among others. Nowadays, they own a company focused on consulting and sourcing exceptional coffees. La Gloria is a jewel previously owned by Abel Castillo, from whom they bought it in October, 2009. After a month evaluating soil, vegetative tissue, extension, varietals, and investment needs, Maria Jose and Luis got to acquire this small yet special piece of land located in a well known area for growing amazing beans. Many experts recognize the mountains surrounding Apaneca for their microclimate characteristics that have prove awesome qualities for growing heirloom and exotic varietals consistently over the years. The name La Gloria which in spanish means The Glory, was given in honor of Maria Joses mother who is a big inspiration and supporter for this coffee-couples endeavor. La Gloria is a 2.6 hectares piece of coffee heaven with an average altitude of 1,450 m.a.s.l. and rich volcanic loam topped with a heavy coat of organic matter. The steep part of the farm is mostly grown to Bourbón and Pacas varietals, but it also has a flat area or tablon dedicated to the exotic Pacamara varietal. Coffee grows below a canopy of ingas and other native trees, that serve as a natural habitat to a wide variety of birds, small mammals, snakes and insects. Sounds of life can be heard from every inch of the farm adding to the atmosphere and the magnificent view of the Laguna del Espino and the Guatemala n border mountains. Another great aspect of the farm is its infrastructure. Water tanks and channels were constructed amongst the cultivars to make watering and fertilizing easier, and also to prevent erosion. Some of the cultural practices being performed this year are fertilization, maintenance of windbreaker barriers, appreciative coffee pruning, stumping and trimming, shade tree pruning, maintenance of cajueleado or pit digging practices to collect organic matter, reduce erosion and oxygenate the land, and building a coffee and shade tree nursery for replanting during next winter. An expanding variety garden with nearly 65 different varietals has been planted for research and educational purposes. Maria Jose and Luis got this farm and made a commitment. They are very proud and thankful with God because their farm has been awarded two years in a row by CoE. They dedicate this award to their newborn son Josemaria, their family, friends and working staff from La Gloria and keep their commitment with producing the best possible coffee while keeping its faith in hard work, innovation and experimentation. In order to select the lot to participate in this years CoE, these growers set up some cupping sessions where they evaluated different farms lots. They decided to compete with a combined lot from La Gloria and La Lagunita farms because of the cup sweetness and combined flavors. Both farms are located within 2.5 miles from each other, and were treated under similar quality standards, using the same team of pickers, supervision of cultural practices, meticulous harvest and milling. The milling process was performed at El Carmen mill in Ataco, depulped within a few hours after harvesting, fully washed process with natural fermentation and sundried in clay patios.
Rank | 33 |
---|---|
Farm Name | La Lagunita/La Gloria |
Farmer/Rep. | Gloria Rodriguez/Maria Jose Rodriguez |
Altitude | 1650 |
Country | El Salvador |
Year | 2011 |
Size (30kg boxes) | 41 |
City | Ahuachapan |
Region | Apaneca-Ilamatepec |
Program | El Salvador 2011 |
Month | - |
Aroma/Flavor | lemon, floral, sweet tobacco, cocoa on aroma, cassis, dark chocolate, caramel, almond, hazelnut, honey, honeydew mellow, cedar, blackberry |
Acidity | lemon, orange, citrus |
Other | smooth mouthfeel, rounded body |
Processing system | Washed |
Variety | Bourbón |
Coffee Growing Area | -1 |
Farm Size | -1 |
Auction Lot Size (lbs.) | 2679 |
High bid | 4.40 |
Total value | 11787.6 |
High bidders | Kaffebrenneriet as |