El Retiro Bernadina – Corvus Coffee

Bernadina is a rare variety of coffee that was discovered in El Salvador on the Pacas farm by the manager, Bernard. I love learning about different varietals of coffee and how each can have unique stories to their origin and the profile of the cups they produce. I’ve actually tried Bernadina once before through Kaldi’s Coffee’s Cupping Series and was excited to try this rare, complex varietal again through Corvus.

The coffee began with a complex, yet delicately sweet fragrance that reminded me of florals and stone fruit. The flavor was sweet with notes of complex florals, milk chocolate, and apricot. It was delicate and very clean with a smooth, light body. It had a crisp, lime citrus acidity and a floral sweetness with supporting sweet lemon undertones. I found the coffee worked best for pour over brew methods; it was a bit too delicate for some of the other immersion-style brew methods.

The Bottom Line

This Bernadina was a special treat. It was delicate and clean, yet very complex—a combination I haven’t been finding very often in the coffees I’ve been drinking recently and a welcomed change of pace.