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El Salvador Manzano Natural – Topeca Coffee Roasters

Andrew Pautler

Coffee Details

  • Coffee Name
    El Salvador Manzano Natural
  • Roaster
    Topeca Coffee Roasters
  • Roaster Location
    Tulsa, Oklahoma
  • Estimated Price
    $19.90 / 12 oz
  • Flavor Notes
    Strawberry, honeydew melon, almond
  • Process
    Natural
  • Varieties
    Bourbon
  • Country
    El Salvador
  • Region
    Santa Ana
  • Elevation
    1550 MASL
  • Producer
    Emilio Lopez Diaz
  • Roast
    Light
  • Review Brew Method
    v60, espresso, Japanese iced coffee (Chemex)
  • Roast Date
    April 21, 2020
  • Review Date
    April 26, 2020

Coffee Scoring

9.1
Aroma
9.5 / 10
Body
9 / 10
Flavor
9.5 / 10
Acidity/Brightness
9 / 10
Balance
9 / 10
Sweetness
9 / 10
Cleanliness
8.5 / 10
Aftertaste
8.5 / 10
Complexity
9.5 / 10
Flexibility
9 / 10
Pros
  • Depth to aroma & flavor
  • Sweet, juicy & fruity flavor

This coffee review was sponsored by Crema.co. Creama.co is the Spotify of coffee. They offer hundreds of coffees from roasters across the country that you can buy with a one-time order or as a subscription. Get $10 off your first bag now.

I have had the opportunity to try a few naturally processed El Salvador coffees recently and was incredibly impressed with their quality and depth of flavor. For that reason, when I saw this coffee from Topeca come up in Crema.co, I knew I had to give it a try.

The coffee begins with a sweet, but slightly sharp fragrance full of berries and almond. The flavor was a knock-out combination of strawberry and blackberry with a juicy sweetness setting the foundation. There was a depth to the flavor that is hard to explain, but is easy to notice after trying thousands of coffees through the years. It has a good acidity that is strong, but not overpowering. The coffee had a medium to full body that was silky, smooth and almost syrupy. It was deeply sweet, well-balanced and had a tart, quick finish. Given the complexity and layering of flavors, I loved exploring this coffee in a variety of brew methods. While it shined most as pour over, it presented itself very well for espresso where its fruit forward attributes really shone. I also had a chance to try it in Japanese iced coffee which was a perfect way to drink it cold because it preserved the aromatics and depth of flavor found in the pour over method.

The Bottom Line

Emilio Lopez Diaz (the producer of this coffee) is a 6th generation coffee producer, so he knows a thing or two about growing and producing great coffee. That knowledge and care for the coffee shines through in this delicious and complex coffee. It gets added to the growing list of amazing El Salvador coffees I’ve tried recently. If you enjoy a sweet, juicy and fruit-forward coffee, I’d absolutely recommend this coffee specifically and more broadly any naturally processed El Salvadorian coffee.

This coffee review was sponsored by Crema.co. Creama.co is the Spotify of coffee. They offer hundreds of coffees from roasters across the country that you can buy with a one-time order or as a subscription. Get $10 off your first bag now.

Free Download

Download the free, printable coffee brew guide cheatsheet

  • Quick reference for ratios, water temp & brew times
  • 8 brew methods including chemex, V60, aeropress & more
  • Serving sizes and tips for each brew method
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