EL SALVADOR Finca Serbia Honey

Process: Honey
Score: 83.5 points

A fruity and refreshing profile with green apple, nuts, juicy pear, and delicate chocolate notes.

Coffee has become a symbol of El Salvador’s economic and cultural identity. The first coffee plants were brought from Guatemala in the 18th century, but the industry truly expanded during the second half of the 19th century, when the government promoted coffee as the country’s main export crop. Agrarian reforms transformed communal lands into plantations, while Indigenous communities were forcibly integrated into the emerging coffee economy.

Finca Serbia is located in Municipio El Congo, in the department of Santa Ana. The farm was established as a coffee plantation in the 1930s and is part of Balcanes Coffee Estates, a family-owned business. The entire farm is planted with coffee under natural shade. In response to climate change, additional native shade trees—including cedar, oak, and balsam trees—have been planted to provide greater protection from the increasingly intense summer sun and UV exposure.

The farm grows several coffee varieties, including Bourbon, Caturra, Pacas, Catimor, and Sarchimor. Located overlooking Lake Coatepeque in the Apaneca–Ilamatepec region, Finca Serbia benefits from a denomination of origin associated with the area, volcanic soils rich in minerals, and an altitude of approximately 1,000 meters above sea level.

In 2012, Central America was severely affected by a widespread outbreak of coffee leaf rust. Finca Serbia had been treated and replanted several years earlier with rust-resistant varieties, helping the farm avoid the worst effects of the outbreak and maintain stable production. The Balcanes Mill is located directly on the farm, allowing the coffee to be processed on-site shortly after harvesting. Many of the surrounding farms have since been abandoned, while Finca Serbia has preserved what is locally known as the “coffee forest.”

The nearby Ilamatepec volcano, the local name for Santa Ana Volcano, is still active. Beyond providing fertile, mineral-rich volcanic soils, it contributes to a distinctive microclimate characterized by dry winters and warm summers within El Salvador’s predominantly tropical climate. These conditions have made the region particularly well suited to coffee cultivation since the 19th century.

Located in El Congo, south of Santa Ana and close to Lake Coatepeque, Finca Serbia has been dedicated primarily to coffee production since its foundation in 1930. The farm continues to cultivate coffee beneath a diverse canopy of shade trees and has recently expanded its shade-tree program with cedar, oak, and balsam species to help protect the coffee plants from the effects of climate change.

More than a decade ago, the farm also renewed part of its coffee trees with varieties resistant to leaf rust. This long-term strategy proved highly effective during the 2012 outbreak, when Finca Serbia remained largely unaffected while much of Central America suffered significant losses.

Today, Finca Serbia is owned by Fernando Lima, alongside other farms and the Balcanes Mill. Having the wet mill located directly on the farm provides an important logistical advantage during harvest, allowing freshly picked coffee cherries to be processed quickly and carefully at the place where they are harvested.