Producer: Smallholders in Citalá and La Palma
Region: Chalatenango
Altitude: 1,300-1,700 masl | 4,265-5,577 feet
Varietal: Pacas
Process: Red Honey
Roast: Light
Notes: Cherry Turnover, Cocoa Powder, Honey

Los Chelazos is a blend of coffees grown by small coffee producers in Citalá and La Palma, two districts in Chalatenango, northern El Salvador. Both districts are part of the Montecristo Trifinio: a tri-border national park shared by El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras. Designated as a biosphere reserve in 2011, the Trifinio area benefits from incredibly rich biodiversity. Caravela started developing relationships with producers in this area in 2012 and opened a buying station and cupping lab in La Palma in December 2015 to be closer to producers and to better interact with them during the harvest and give them feedback on quality. Today, they work with more than 80 producers in the region.

As Roberto Landaverde, a local producer, observed “Caravela has guided us to focus more on the production of specialty coffee in order to achieve better prices.” He continues: “Now I have a better quality of life, with more opportunities in my professional life.”

Common in Central America, the honey process involves de-pulping freshly harvested cherries and placing them on drying beds to begin fermenting with leftover pulp and sticky mucilage still clinging to the parchment. Based on how much pulp and mucilage remains, a honey process coffee may be classified as White, Yellow, Red, or Black.

Coffee processed this way tends to be fruit-forward like a natural, with a creamier mouthfeel than a washed coffee and somewhat rounded acidity.