Viper Mountain

Region: Apaneca Llamatepec
Location: Concepcion de Ataco, Ahuachapan
Altitude: 1,350 meters above sea level
Forest Area: 12 hectares
Varietal: Pacamara

Viper Mountain got its name from its snake-head shape and sits at an average of 1350 meters above sea level, with dramatic views of the Pacific Ocean. Aside from the shape of a viper’s snake head, the mountain also got its name from the Tamagaz which inhabits the area, a small poisonous viper native to the region.

This Pacamara comes from the reproduction of older bronze-leafed cultivars and it's producing some of the finest coffees Mapache offers. During harvest, several pickup trucks go down to the “Plazuela” (a small gathering place, usually a very flat area of the farm) to pick up bags full of these robust coffee cherries to deliver to the processing station. Every Pacamara that arrives at Benefcio El Recreo is treated with special care, every process of this coffee is traceable all the way to the trees where it came from. This single-farm/single-lot coffee is available in limited quantities and we are excited to offer this crop.

Mapache Coffee is a fifth-generation company of coffee producers, owned and managed by Jan-Carlo and Sofia Handtke in the Apaneca Ilamatepec mountain range of El Salvador. Mapache Coffee employs over 125 locals year-round, but during harvest season, their staff swells to 600 people who work together to build coffee nurseries, replant at Mapache’s six farm properties, and process the perfectly ripe cherries that come from them. Mapache maintains a strong commitment to the well-being of the coffee forests, ensuring that every farm has a canopy protecting the coffee plants and soil. Their modern wet mill uses limited amounts of water during the washing process, then recycles and reuses that water in the same process. All the remaining pulp from the wet milling process is incorporated back into the farms as compost, returning key nutrients to the soil.