JOURNAL | The beginning of something big
Mondays can be rough, but they can also be the beginning of something big, or at least something good.
Like the Monday when we found a forgotten farm on the slopes of El Salvador's highest mountain. In the region Chalatenango, near Honduras. Around us, happy horses trampled the ground, and in the shade of old pines abandoned coffee trees nestled.
A crazy idea turned into a common dream, where we could begin spreading the message of quality and sustainability among our coffee-growing neighbors. The site was named El Pital after the mountain top. The first coffee farm with the Lykke coffee people.
The landscape of El Pitál is amazingly vibrant. Full of flowers, birds, and exotic fruits. Everything you put into the ground grows crazy fast.
Our land is located on a southwesterly slope at an altitude of between 1600-2000 meters. We started by planting 23 hectares in 2017 and since the start, we have farmed in harmony with nature, without pesticides or fertilizers.
We grow plants of 6 different varieties, each with its own little home on the farm. In addition to coffee, we have planted avocados as sun protection for sensitive coffee plants, but also so that the people at home in Stockholm can taste some really sun-ripened avocados.
¡Buen provecho! Arriba!
Pacas is a bit synonymous with Salvadoran coffee as this naturally mutated Bourbon was discovered in the country as early as the 1940s.
Today, it accounts for about 25% of the production in the country, and the characteristics of Pacas are a small tree with bushy branches and the potential for good harvests.
It thrives incredibly well on the high altitudes we have in our area around El Pital and delivers when handled correctly, a really sweet and complex coffee, which leaves no one unaffected.
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Big Monday is our Salvadorian fruit basket. Where our own and our neighbors' fantastic coffee takes center stage. There are several coffee producers around our coffee farm and more to come!
Our colleagues Elvin and Orlando putter around in a pick-up truck on the most inaccessible mountain roads and connect more and more people to the Lykke project.
We currently have the privilege of working with about 15 farmers that bring us this coffee all the way home to our roastery.
