El Salitre and Los Toños are the plots owned by the the Alvarado Fonseca family who found Corazon de Jesus micromill in 2015 and since the very beginning decided to focus on producing specialty coffee. The family used to be a part of a different micro mill, owned by their relatives, but they quickly decided to start their own processing station and gain more independence.

The first crop was processed with a borrowed pulping machine and the first raised beds were built within few weeks.

After some time, the family has reinvested the earnings of the well-running micro mill in order to process coffee in the best conditions and to increase capacity. What’s more, an opportunity to buy some more land occurred in 2017 and that’s how the Alvarado’s expanded their operations.

These lovely people are not afraid to experiment and have been processing their coffees in several, diverse ways:

washed, red honey, natural, fermented natural and anaerobic.

In 2021 they competed in the Cup of Excellence for the first time, placing…5th! And then it just was off to a flying start. A third place a year later and a 2nd in 2024! Loads of respect, really!

Some info regarding their natural process: The cherries are selectively handpicked and ripe, red fruit is delivered to the Corazon de Jesus micromill.
Coffee is laid to dry on raised beds and is raked frequently to ensure even process.
It takes approximately 15 to 20 days for the cherries to dry properly. Then they rests for approximately 2 months in order to stabilize and homogenize before being dry-milled
and prepared for export.

For sure we’re gonna arm ourselves in more Alvarado Fonseca family’s coffees in the future and in the meantime, please
enjoy these great lots from one of the most beautiful coffee regions in the world.