Finca Malacara A

Finca Malacara A has been in the Alvarez family since 1889. Originally a part of Finca Malacara, Malacara A was originally planted with the Red Bourbon varietal. José Guillermo Alvarez Prunera and María Alvarez De Murray have continued the tradition of growing Bourbon in this area, and added to Gesha, SL28, Maragogype, Portillo, Tekisic, and also a small amount of Catimor in the lower altitude plots. Tekisic is a particularly interesting varietal; it was developed by the Instituto Salvadoreño de Café in the 1970s and is genetically a type of Bourbon. The name is derived from the word Tek, from the Nawat language, and ISIC, from the Instituto Salvadoreño de Café. The Tekisic seedlings will be planted out in 2024 so it will be a few years before there is enough production for us to try. We have known José Guillermo and María Alvarez for many years now and always enjoyed their coffee. We first met José Guillermo in our Borough Market shop where he introduced himself as a coffee farmer from El Salvador. It was some years before we could buy his coffee, but once we started, we haven’t looked back, and the coffee has become a real stalwart on our counter.