PT's Coffee
El Salvador Finca Las Mercedes La Avila Graduation Lot Washed

This smooth, approachable light roast opens with aromas of caramel, tangerine, and maple. Flavors of almond brittle and yellow apple accompany milk chocolate sweetness in the cup, resolving into an aftertaste of black tea and nougat. The Graduation Lot—so named because it was planted the year that Lucia's son graduated from high school—is comprised entirely of SL28 from Las Mercedes' high-altitude La Avila micro-lot. Within hours of harvest the cherries are brought to the on-farm mill and depulped, leaving a small amount of sweet, honey-like mucilage clinging to the parchment layer surrounding the beans. The coffee is left in a fermentation tank where enzymes break down the mucilage. After fermenting for 12-18 hours the coffee is sent through washing channels and then moved to drying patios. Owned by the 5th generation of the Ortiz Barriere family, Finca Las Mercedes is everything we look for in a Direct Trade partner—and we've worked with them since 2006. Currently led by our friend Lucia Ortiz, Las Mercedes has become one of the top quality coffee producers in El Salvador. In fact, a lot from La Avila won the El Salvador Coffee of the Year competition in 2012.