Finca El Retiro is owned and operated by the Pacas family, located in the municipality of Chalchuapa, El Salvador. It has been owned by the Pacas family since 1927 and is currently managed by Andres Palma. The farm is about 19 hectares in size, planted with Bourbon, Pacamara and Bernardina varieties and Inga trees for shading and biodiversity. Coffee picked here is processed for export at the nearby Beneficio Vivagua mill, also owned and operated by the Pacas family. The Bernardina variety has a very special story. It was found on another of the farms owned by the Pacas family, Finca Los Belletos. The farm manager, Ruperto Berardino, had noticed a small number of trees on the farm whose fruit had very distinct flavors and high sweetness. Upon further investigation and genetic testing, these trees were found to be an entirely new species of coffee! Named “Bernardina” after the namesake of its discoverer, this variety has since become renowned for its extremely high cup quality and has been planted across several of the other farms owned by the Pacas family.

Brew Method

1g of coffee to 16-17g water / Slurry temperature (coffee+water): 200 - 205 ̊F / 93 - 96 ̊C / Extraction: 20 - 21% / TDS 1.38-1.41%