El Salvador - Castelgazzo

El Salvador — Mario & "La Geña" Cristiani Castelgazzo Pacamara (Washed)

Tastes Like — 🍂 Dried Fruits • 🍑 Black Plum • 🍬 Milk Caramel

DETAILS

• Producer: Mario & "La Geña" Cristiani
• Farm: Castelgazzo
• Region: Santa Ana, El Salvador
• Varietal: Pacamara
• Process: Washed (72hr Fermentation)
• Altitude: 1,450–1,780 MASL
• Roast: Espresso
• Size: 250g

INTRO

From Mario and "La Geña" Cristiani at Castelgazzo — a washed Pacamara from one of El Salvador's most remarkable and purposeful coffee estates, located in the buffer zone of Montecristo National Park within the Trifinio Biosphere Reserve, where El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras converge. A 72-hour fermentation and slow shade drying produce a cup of layered sweetness and refinement. In the cup: dried fruits, black plum, and milk caramel.

THE PRODUCER

Castelgazzo was founded in 1995 by Mario and "La Geña" Cristiani as an agroecological and forestry project with a deep commitment to the land and sustainability. More than a coffee plantation, it is an ongoing project that brings together forestry production, environmental conservation, and sustainable human development — situated at the point where three countries meet, surrounded by cloud forest at elevations reaching 2,418 MASL. Today the family legacy continues through their daughters Paola, Lucía, and Carolina, who carry forward the vision of producing coffees that convey peace, beauty, and a deep connection with nature.

The farm's extraordinary setting in the Trifinio Biosphere Reserve provides a unique microclimate — cool, cloud-laden, and exceptionally biodiverse — that shapes the character of every lot produced here. The Pacamara variety, a large-beaned hybrid of Pacas and Maragogype developed by El Salvador's Institute for Coffee Research in 1958, thrives in these conditions, delivering the structured sweetness, complex fruit character, and silky body that the variety is celebrated for.

THE PROCESS

The Washed process at Castelgazzo involves:

🍒 Hand-picking — Pacamara cherries selectively harvested at peak ripeness 🔧 Depulping — Outer skin removed before fermentation 🧪 72-hour fermentation — Beans fermented for 72 hours, developing greater clarity and complexity in the cup 💧 Washing — Thoroughly washed after fermentation to remove all residue 🌑 Shaded raised-bed drying — Dried slowly on raised beds under covered structures with natural shade, ensuring even drying while protecting the beans from direct sun and sudden weather changes

The 72-hour fermentation is the defining step — a longer-than-conventional fermentation period that builds the dried fruit depth and black plum complexity that define this lot, while the slow, shaded drying preserves the milk caramel sweetness and silky structure that make it so rewarding as an espresso.

THE CUP

A deeply layered and beautifully structured washed Pacamara from one of El Salvador's most purposeful and historically remarkable estates — dried fruit richness and black plum depth give way to a long, silky milk caramel finish, in a cup that carries the spirit of the Trifinio cloud forest in every sip.

Flavour Notes

🍂 Dried Fruits 🍑 Black Plum 🍬 Milk Caramel