Mauricio Salaverria’s company ‘Divisadero Café Farms’ oversees the operations at all of his farms across the regions of El Salvador. Mauricio himself is a sixth generation coffee producer.

At Finca Himalaya, coffee cherries are picked, hand sorted and floated to remove unripe or over-ripe cherries. The cherries are then stacked in thick piles to increase temperature, which helps to intensify sweetness and fruit quality, while being shade-dried to maintain better control over the drying process. During this time the cherries are also turned over every few hours to ensure that just the right amount of fermentation occurs within the fruit.

Around 3-5 days later, the piles are thinned out to assist the reduction in moisture content during the day, before being stacked again and cocooned in plastic sheets to maintain warmer temperatures in the fruit for a few hours into the evening. This process continues for 6-12 days before reverting to a more standard process for natural coffees: leaving the cherries spread out thinly and drying for 15-25 days. Through this extensive process, Mauricio and his team are able to create a unique flavour experience and enhance different qualities in different lots.