About Finca Jalapa

How we make our coffee and how we drink it is a matter of taste and choice, but for most adults, drinking coffee every day is definitely a matter of habit. Coffee helps us to wake up, cheers us up, and helps us to work better. That’s why, knowing that my coffee received a rating of 83.75 it’s a great thing, I was surprised but most importantly I felt proud to know that I can bring happiness, love and the quality of it to all those coffee lovers out there. So let me tell you all about the “behind the scenes” of my coffee.

My name is Gloria Leonor Castañeda de Zamora and from a very young age I saw adults drinking a traditional/popular drink. This popular drink is coffee. You never miss a cup of coffee in the morning, especially in the pupuserias. The culture of drinking coffee was born in early Salvadorans, specifically in homes where people have low-income and drink their coffee sparingly with a bread roll, as it is a memory of being at the table with their family. 

It’s amazing how you can connect with people through shared likes. However, this taste was acquired out of curiosity. Since I was little I wanted to taste the flavor and feel what adults felt when they drank it, so I decided to start drinking coffee. It was then that I completely fell in love with coffee, its quality, its smell, taste and satisfaction because it brought happiness, that’s what the first sip makes you feel. 

As time passed, I learned more about coffee; from its harvest to how to properly drink it, but all this was thanks to my relationship with my husband. What connected us even more was the passion for coffee. It’s not just about me or just him, it’s about our relationship, I supported my husband in his dreams and vision, made sure I was the person who motivated him to keep going and learned all about his love for coffee. I grew more passionate about coffee with him. Drinking it together. I learned about the crops, and by the way I also learned about the financial forms with my mother-in-law. 

I learned that the generosity of our land takes the harvest and generates beauty. It is here that I understood the name of the farm from my husbands family. “Finca Jalapa”, it means sandy land in indigenous. On the farm, there are pools of water where there is a bridge that is also called Jalapa. It runs water in the winter and in the summer, and my husband made the decision not to prune it but to conserve it. There’s also varieties of coffee such as, Cuscatleco, Maragojipe and Pacas are generated. The farm is located in Cojutepeque, Department of Cuscatlán in El Salvador. I am 72 years old and I came to Cojutepeque when I was 18 years old. I love coffee and I believe that the forest is a source of life and oxygen, since the flora and fauna are conserved in it.

I have high desires to improve the farm, myself and others. I consider myself a person with drawing skills. That’s why I believe that the values that have built interest and love for the farm have been enthusiasm, humility, pride, conservation for the environment, passion and above all, resilience. I think it’s important to know how to adapt to new realities, to know how to use the resources that are close to us and to know that you can’t give up without trying. It’s never impossible to find solutions and of course there are obstacles to overcome, but there’s always perseverance and passion for what one does. That is why I would like to renew fruit trees that are associated with coffee. The fruit trees that need attention are those that were planted many years ago.

The farm bears many fruits; one of them is the sincuya, considered in extinction, another fruit is the sungano, they are associated with the cultivation of coffee. The coffee grows in the shade and to be able to accompany it, there are quality fruit trees. The advantage of coffee is that it can’t be classified as a monoculture, since its associated with other crops that generate life and generate different nutrients for the land. 

Part of what I want to achieve in the future is that people can enjoy coffee with fruit and also chocolate, share life in the country and learn about the agricultural tasks that are experienced in the coffee plantations. We want to associate and rescue native cacao to turn in into chocolate. There are trees of this cacao on the farm and although it’s been difficult we want to rescue them. Likewise, one of the biggest problems was the rust attack because it killed large amounts of coffee. With this, production dropped and coffee plantation had to be renewed. However, it is a struggle to always grow and be able to generate the coffee that others will fall in love with. 

I want to reach the hearts of consumers through the quality of the coffee, through the history and the sacrifices that have been made to make coffee a better beverage. Carry out activities, including art and Agro Tourism, because I am convinced that care and love for the environment is an important factor in making life better for everyone. I believe I have a wealth of knowledge and experiences that I want to share. I have always dreamed of a new and better world where happiness is a universal state of mind and reminding others that it is not that one is addicted to coffee, it is that we are committed to it in a serious relationship.

Detalles

TAMAÑO: 12 manzanas

ELEVACIÓN: 830 mts

VARIEDADES: Cuscatleco, Maragojipe, Pacas

PROCESO: Lavado

PERFILES DE SABOR: Frutos Rojos, Cuerpo balanceado

UBICACIÓN: Cojutepeque, Cuscatlán, El Salvador.

Información de Contacto:

Email: castanedagloria49@gmail.com