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Overview

This farm was baptized as La Nueva by Rafael Duch Martinez in 2003, because when he bought it he felt it like his new born baby. He treats the land and his coffee plants as a garden, believing in the mystic leaves, flowers and fruit. His philosophy on coffee growing is very similar to his life´s: “humbleness, generosity and tolerance” with the farm, it´s workers and everything surrounding him. Coffee runs through his veins, as he is a 3rd generation grower, he oversees all the work done in the farms as he considers them his legacy. He has been active in the coffee business since he was very young, and his father introduced him to the very core of the cultivation process. The farm is managed under cultural practices and traditional techniques for growing and processing exceptional coffee. His family, during the golden years of production had their own roastery, but the crisis led to its closing. The important part of this chapter was the knowledge and training acquired on cupping, and he is always at the table, discussing about the characteristics of the different lots from the family farms when the milling process is finished. An important thing to highlight is the technique implemented on this farm. According to Rafael´s philosophy, the farming strategy is pruning only the necessary branches allowing to keep healthy tissue and a bit of sunlight, letting the cherries ripe slowly and comfortably at their own pace. He believes in the high quality of Salvadoran coffees, and the microclimatic conditions of the “Golden Belt” in which this farm is located, known like that for being the most esteemed lands for coffee growing in the Santa Ana Volcano. The farm is just a few hundreds of meters away from La Fatima, which is the other, well known family farm that had achieved 3rd place in previous competition. This is the third time La Nueva is awarded by Cup of Excellence, but made its first appearance on 2008 reaching the international jury stage.