Facsimile 7
September 11, 2021
Guest Cupper: Aida Batlle
Simply put, Aida Batlle is the reason that coffee producers experiment with cherry selection, fermentation, and processing.
She’s a fifth-generation coffee farmer, meaning her great-great-grandfather had a coffee farm in El Salvador in the late 19th century. She oversees her three family farms, Kilimanjaro, Mauritania, and Los Alpes (named by her mountain-loving father) as well as her own personal farm, Tanzania. She was the first woman to ever win the Cup of Excellence, the first person to ever win the El Salvador CoE, and her coffee has been used by national barista champions across the world. Aida was the first coffee farmer to earn a Barista Guild of America certification.
Remarkably, this exhaustive list of accomplishments understate what is special about Aida. Her mother told her to be herself, “be original, and always try new things. Realize what traditions you will need to carry forward but also question what will help make a difference and achieve new things.”
And Aida delivered. Her insatiable curiosity and desire to see how much she can bend coffee to her will has encouraged a generation of coffee farmers to explore what their own coffee is capable of, and serves as a positive inspiration for the entire coffee industry.
Facsimile 7 Sample Coffees
Washed Kilimanjaro
Bourbon, SL28, and SL34 varieties produced 1,580-1,720 meters above sea level on Aida Battle’s Finca Kilimanjaro at the summit of the Santa Ana Volcano in El Salvador.
The coffee is then depulped, dry fermented for 18 hours, washed and dried on shaded beds for nine days.
Burundi-style Kilimanjaro
Bourbon, SL28, and SL34 varieties produced 1,580-1,720 meters above sea level on Aida Battle’s Finca Kilimanjaro at the summit of the Santa Ana Volcano in El Salvador.
The coffee undergoes two 24-hour fermentation cycles--one dry, one wet--interrupted every 12 hours with a rinse of cold water. After washing, the coffee soaks for another 24 hours before drying for nine days on shaded beds.
Natural Kilimanjaro
Bourbon, SL28, and SL34 varieties produced 1,580-1,720 meters above sea level on Aida Battle’s Finca Kilimanjaro at the summit of the Santa Ana Volcano in El Salvador.
After floating the cherries to remove unripe fruit and any foreign material, they are dried on shaded beds for 10-11 days and warehoused until ready for hulling and export.
Iced Cascara Tea Kilimanjaro
Bourbon, SL28, and SL34 varieties produced 1,580-1,720 meters above sea level on Aida Battle’s Finca Kilimanjaro at the summit of the Santa Ana Volcano in El Salvador.
A hot cascara (spent coffee pulp/ skin) tea is brewed, brought to room temperature, then frozen solid into bricks. After the coffee is depulped, the cascara iced tea bricks join it in the fermentation tanks for 18 hours, at which point the bricks have melted but are still cold. The coffee skips washing (pulped-natural-ish) and goes straight to shaded drying beds for nine days.