San Ernesto - El Salvador

Additional Information

San Ernesto - El Salvador

Now in their sixth generation, brothers Enrique, Rene, and Gustavo run San Ernesto alongside their two other farms. Their father, Gustavo, remains involved as an advisor, bringing the benefit of his experience to the operation.

The farm is divided into twenty-eight tablones, each ranging between 3 and 6 hectares, allowing them to produce microlots if desired. In the 2012/2013 season, they lost 80% of their coffee plantations to leaf rust. This event triggered a significant shift in their management practices.

Instead of selectively pruning some trees, they now systematically prune entire parcels. Each section of land is planted with a single coffee varietal to enable more effective management. This approach has evolved further to match select varietals with the altitudes at which they perform best, forming the foundation for their planting strategy in the coming years.

All Urrutia Estate coffees are 100% shade-grown, with native trees planted annually to prevent erosion. The main shade trees are izote and copalchi, which also serve as natural wind barriers.

Coffee from this 140-hectare farm has recently been awarded Denomination of Origin (PDO) status. This certification is granted by cuppers from the Salvadoran Coffee Council, following SCA standards. It guarantees the quality and unique characteristics of coffee produced in a specific geographical region — the Central part of El Salvador, which includes the Bálsamo Quetzaltepeq Mountain Range and the San Salvador Volcano.