El Salvador Estate: Roasting in April

COFFEE WITH LEGACY
High in the Apaneca–Ilamatepec mountains of El Salvador, among volcanic soils that have shaped coffee for generations, sits the San Carlos Estate. Our April limited release, El Salvador Estate, comes from here, where the Borgonovo family has cultivated coffee for more than 50 years. Grown over 1,100 meters above sea level, the coffee cherries grow and ripen slowly in the warm mornings and cool, cloud-covered afternoons of the mountains. 

A DARK ROAST WITH A SOFT SIDE
This steady growing rhythm allows sweetness to deepen in the fruit before harvest. After underdoing the washed processing method, the coffee beans are set to dry on sunlit patios at the estate’s mill just hours from the fields. The eventual result? A bold bean that carries a surprising softness—milk chocolate richness layered with sweet caramel and delicate orange blossom. It’s a coffee shaped by altitude, patience, and the volcanic heart of El Salvador.

CLARITY IN EVERY CUP
At the San Carlos Estate, the washed process begins by carefully removing each coffee cherry’s outer fruit. The beans are then fermented in clean water tanks, where natural enzymes break down any remaining fruit, developing flavors that remain crisp and transparent. Next up, they’re thoroughly washed (no mystery in why it’s called the washed processing method!) and laid out to dry under the sun, locking in their character. The result is a cup defined by clarity—where sweetness feels refined, it’s bright but balanced, and each note, from citrus florals to caramel depth, comes through with precision.

ROASTED WITH PURPOSE, BREWED WITH INTENTION
For this release, we chose a dark roast profile to draw out the coffee’s natural depth of flavor, allowing those layered tasting notes to remain distinct rather than overshadowed. The result is a cup that feels full and comforting, yet still expressive. It’s a versatile coffee, equally at home as a pour over, drip, or French press, each method revealing a slightly different side—from brighter aromatics to a deeper, rounded body. As we share this coffee during Earth Month, it’s also a moment to recognize the future of coffee itself. El Salvador is home to World Coffee Research, where ongoing work to develop climate-resilient coffee varieties helps protect not just livelihoods, but the plant at the heart of every cup. Because preserving coffee’s future means investing in its roots—ensuring that coffees like this month’s limited release can continue to be grown, shared, and enjoyed for generations to come.

FRESH FROM THE PEET’S ROASTERY
When this coffee first arrived at our Roastery, the beans were a nice medium size with an olive-green hue. There was a nice uniformity across the beans, with almost no silver skin and no visible defects for a very clean look. The beans had a pleasant grass-like smell.

The first batch roasted fast, but the rest were easy to manage and responded well to changes in heat. The coffee was a little stubborn at the finish, taking a little more patience than expected to see the desired color. But in the end, after audible first and second cracks, we had a lovely dark roast with sweet aromatics.

After roasting comes cupping with a series of tasters, ready to choose their favorite amongst a few sample roasts. The winning profile—the one you’ll try at home—showed the best balance overall. We found it to be round and structured with layered aromatics of herb, fennel, and dark chocolate. In the cup, it leans roast-forward while maintaining sweetness and brightness, with notes of dark chocolate orange, warming spice, and a floral finish.

– John Nicolini and Michael Madden, Roasters; Jamie Smith, R&D



PEET’S LIMITED RELEASE COFFEES
You might think that a monthly coffee subscription sounds amazing in and of itself, but Peet’s coffee-of-the-month takes it a step further than most. Good things come in small packages, and we only get these coffees in small batches, which is why you can only find them at peets.com and only for a month at a time. They’re special. And while you don’t have to be a Small Batch Coffee subscriber to experience these amazing coffees, their fleeting nature means they can sell out—fast. So subscribing guarantees you get to taste each one of these incredibly special lots.