5lb El Salvador "Fannie Mae" La Fany

This is a 5lb Bag of freshly roasted Fannie Mae 
 
THE DARKER THE BERRY THE SWEETER THE JUICE!  That’s what I heard as my tasting notes for La Fany danced between blueberry, mulberry, and blackberry.  There were also some hints of pomelo, dark chocolate, and butterscotch.  So, get ya palate engines ready!
 
We had the honor to speak with Carmen E. de Silva of Sicafe back in February of 2020 and thoroughly enjoyed her essence and passion for coffee.  She is in charge of sales and export and absolutely loves it.  She is also secretary of the Board of Directors of AMCES {Aliana de Mujeres en Café de El Salvador}, the El Salvador Chapter of IWCA {International Women’s Coffee Alliance}.  AMCES in August 2019 started some really great projects.  One on recycling plastics, reuse, reduction.  The other focuses on soil related climate change mitigation techniques.  Both projects are focused on building community engagement and knowledge transfer.  Through AMCES Carmen explained how they have been able to do one thing she really loves and that’s helping women producers.  They finance micro loans for women working at Sicafe especially when there is not much work in the farms.  
 
Carmen got into the coffee world 33 years ago when she married her husband Rafael who happens to be a 5th generation coffee producer.  Their two children Rafael Gerardo {31} and Rodrigo {30} whom work on the farm will happily be the 6th generation.  Carmen told us that once you get into coffee you cannot get out because it is so fascinating!  We whole heartedly agree with her.  Coffee is so layered and complex before it even leaves the farm.  We think it’s safe to say we can not get out of coffee either!  Carmen said once upon a time they tried to diversify the farm and started a flower nursery that was 10,000 square meters of poinsettias.  After 5 years of poinsettias they decided to close because costs were just way to high.  I think coffee said “git back over here, where are you going?:)”. So, they bought two depulpers, started their own mill, and never looked back.  They recycled much of what they used in the nurseries and little by little got all the equipment in place for coffee in an eco-friendly way with their aqua pulpers and having all the coffees dried on raised beds.  Their mill is pretty unique considering they only process specialty coffees and are very strict with quality control.
 
Sicafe is also pretty cool in the fact that workers are trained on different labors and given the opportunity to see where they would benefit more.  There are seminars once a month for employees on various things, like self-esteem.  They employ old men as gardeners around the mill and when they decide to leave, they keep their salaries going until death.  Last but not least, when it’s time for export, 24 women are employed who work in the patios and raised beds.  They have the keen eye for making sure there are only 2-3 minor imperfections in the coffees.  Okay Ladies! You betta git it!
 
Sicafe is a one stop shop with coffee plantations from 1,300 to 1,900 masl in Apaneca, Ahuachapan, El Salvador.  At Sicafe, they are producers, millers, roasters with a small roastery Rafael Jr. is in charge of, and exporters who specialize in specialty coffees on their own farms.  They also help commercialize neighboring farms as well.  They process washed, honeys, naturals, and some anaerobic.  Sicafe has multiple farms and we decided to highlight 3 of them that we could get our hands on.  There will surely be more in the future, but first off we would like to introduce you to La Fany.  She awaits a date with you sooner than soon!
 
The photos show it all!  The land is GORGEOUS!  So, much work goes into this process y'all.  Please enjoy every little sip:)
 
Country: El Salvador
Region: Apaneca, Ahuachapan
Variety: Red Bourbon
Process: Washed