There are four volcanoes in this range, with Santa Anna dominating. Coffee farming is done on both sides, the north and south facing slopes. The farms we saw were all facing north - and thus were hardly affected by the early January 2008 windstorm sweeping from the Pacific.

Marcos Batres, a coffee producer and exporter http://www.cofinanzas.com/who_we_are.asp) gave us a tour of some of his many farms in the area. The key one was Santa Teresa which has geysers and hot springs, allowing him to use its geothermal energy. Here he is showing us the view - next...

These slopes face the Pacific Ocean. the cone on the right is the Itzalco volcano. The much more massive volcano, to the left, is Santa Anna which is nearly 8,000 feet high. Coffee grows on the slopes of these mountains.
As our eyes move further to the left....(next)

Coffee farms can be seen below and on the slopes. The apparent "hedges" are taller trees planted to protect from excessive winds. This system was no match for the freak January storm.

We also visited Aida Battle and her Los Alpes farm, one of three her family owns over several generations. We are looking down from her farm; below the nitrogen-producing shade trees are the coffee plants, most just cleaned of their fruits.

A closer view of the Los Alpes coffee field....

A method of coffee pruning rarely seen these days. It is called agobiado. A vertical stem is tied down and so is made to bend. Branches then rise vertically, producing horizontal branches bearing fruit, as you can see here. With this method each coffee tree is planted much further apart than is the norm in most producing countries these days. This practice is implemented for the Bourbon heirloom variety, a less productive plant than the many cultivars developped from it and the Typica heirloom variety over the past one hundred years. El salvador did not invest in new cultivars during the 70's and 80's because of the social and political turmoil of those times. Today the Bourbon and the Pacas (a variant) predominate and are considered a foundation for the quality production of El Salvador.

El Salvador Jan 2008

Ripe Bourbon coffee cherries.....

Ripe very rare Orange Bourbon! I can't wait to cup this!

Aida Battle. Her family fled the turmoil in the 1980's and she was raised in the US. She returned to the farms in 2002 and fell in love with coffee production. She is setting very high standards for the harvesting and processing of coffee, continuously expertimenting along the way. We will be seeing more of her!

We went by some pickers on Los Alpes. Now that's ripe picking! A rarley seen sight in the coffee industry today!

Through the windshield as we drive down from the farm....

The Las Cruces coffee mill where Aida has her coffees processed.
Every 20 to 30 minutes the beans are raked.

It has always been men doing this raking. The owner of Las Cruces, Jose Antonio Salaverria, is now changing this tradition....