Coffee is a drink of discovery, and any specialty coffee lover can likely recall more than one moment of revelation in their coffee-drinking journeys, something that sparked a desire to discover more. With Frothy Monkey’s newest limited release, we’re extending you a special invitation to join in the continuing discovery with us!
Los Bellotos Bernardina, the most unique and exciting coffee we’ve ever had the privilege to roast, comes from the famed Pacas family of El Salvador. They have a knack for discovering new varieties of coffee: Maria Paca’s great grandfather, Fernando Alberto Pacas Figueroa, discovered the renowned Pacas coffee variety on Finca San Rafael in 1945. The Pacas family has continued this tradition of specialty coffee breakthroughs by dedicating a portion of their farm to varieties not typically found in El Salvador.
Bernardina, this newly discovered coffee species, was first identified in 2008, when Los Bellotos farm manager Ruperto Bernardino Merche noticed some curious coffee cherries on their farm. Somehow, five unidentified coffee trees made it from Agaro, Ethiopia to El Salvador in the 1930’s, and they survived undiscovered until Ruperto realized that these fruits were exquisitely fragrant and sweet. Maria and Café Pacas named the new varietal “Bernardina”, after the man who had been saying for so long that these five trees were special. Since then, they’ve propagated more of these one-of-a-kind plants so that we can provide the Nashville coffee community and the rest of the world with this exceptional coffee experience.
After genetic analysis, it was discovered that Bernardina is related to both Geisha and Ethiopian Agaro, and has proven itself a hardy variety with some promising resistance to coffee leaf rust, which devastated El Salvador’s crops in 2013. This new variety is still being explored more fully, with trees being planted in a variety of microclimates and varying elevation bands, to better understand its potential. That same potential is already being realized, however, as this coffee placed third in the 2019 El Salvador Cup of Excellence competition.
We were lucky enough to first taste the Bernardina variety in early 2020, and we knew immediately that we had to have it, and committed to taking 1 bag from Café Pacas. Bernardina is a stunningly delicious, very limited new offering from Frothy Monkey Roasting Company, with flavor notes of orange blossom, amaretto, and ginger snaps. You’ll notice intense florals and fruitiness in the cup, and you’ll probably find this is one of the most delicate, soothing coffee experiences you’ve ever had. We are absolutely thrilled to finally share this uniquely delicious coffee with you; this is the culmination of our years of coffee roaster expertise, our honored partnerships abroad, and our passion for sourcing and roasting beautiful coffees for our customers.
Available online only for a very limited time.
