Tasting Notes: Dried Apricot, Basil, Hibiscus

Region: Quezaltepec, El Bálsamo

Process: Natural

Elevation: 1,250 - 1,550 masl

Variety: Catuai

Producer: Carlos Escobar

Our partnership with Forest Flame Coffee Imports has yielded some amazing results recently. We’ve used coffee sourced by them to enhance our blends, as well as introduce remarkable single-origin offerings, such as the excellent Bourbon Natural. We’re thrilled to introduce a new example of this partnership, brought from the same hands and farm as the Bourbon Natural. This Catuai Natural coffee offers a surprising blend of floral flavors with a gentle but sweet finish. Not only is it perfect for batch brew, but, as we step into the second half of the summer, the Catuai Natural also serves as a refreshingly sweet coffee over ice!

As alluded to above, this coffee is produced at the same farm as our Bourbon Natural offering, the Finca Milan in the Quezaltepec–El Bálsamo region of El Salvador. You might be surprised then by how distinct these two coffees taste from one-another! The explanation lies in the fact that the Catuai varietal of coffee is unique from the Bourbon and offers a range of different flavors accordingly. For instance, Bourbon Natural’s full-bodied, thicker notes provide a striking contrast to the Catuai Natural’s crisp notes. The variance in the flavor profiles of these coffees, even as they originate from the same farm, emphasizes just how deep coffee exploration can take you if you’re willing to go along with it!

Finca Milan is owned and operated by Carlos Escobar, whose hands-on approach to coffee production has helped curate offerings noted for their precision and quality. The farm sits at a high enough altitude for optimal growing and harvesting conditions, which are complemented by Milan’s classic approach to coffee processing. Ultimately, this Catuai Natural serves as a restatement of Escobar and his team’s work, both through its elegance and its consistency.