Chichontepec
Coffee from Chichontepec, El Salvador: the San Vicente and La Paz range, about 4% of the crop, with chocolate, orange, passion fruit and bright acidity.
What is Chichontepec coffee?
Coffee from the Chichontepec range in central El Salvador, around San Vicente and the La Paz municipalities of the Nonualco and Tepezontes area. A small region, with about 4–5% of the country's coffee, it is protected by a denomination of origin from 800 metres, which describes chocolate and citrus aromas, a medium, creamy body, bright citric acidity, and flavours of chocolate, orange and a touch of passion fruit.
At a glance
2026- Species
- Arabica
- Altitude
- 500–1,000 m (CSC, 2016); denomination of origin from 800 m
- Harvest
- October to March nationally (CSC)
- Production
- About 4% of El Salvador's coffee (FIAES)
- Area under coffee
- 6,075 ha, 4.6% of the coffee area (CSC, 2016)
- Typical cup
- Chocolate and citrus aroma; medium, creamy body; bright, citric acidity; chocolate, orange and light passion fruit (denomination of origin).
- Protected name
- Denomination of origin Café Chichontepec, from 800 m
Other figures describe 2026 and come from the sources at the end of this page. Updated once a year.
Chichontepec is one of El Salvador’s smaller coffee ranges, in the centre of the country around San Vicente and the La Paz towns of the Nonualco and Tepezontes area. Its coffee grows lower than in most Salvadoran regions, but it has its own denomination of origin and an official profile of chocolate and bright citrus.
The short version
- About 4% of El Salvador’s coffee, on some 6,000 hectares.
- 500–1,000 metres, by the CSC’s count; the denomination starts at 800 m.
- Chocolate, orange and passion fruit, with bright citric acidity.
- San Vicente and La Paz departments.
- Harvest October to March.
What does Chichontepec coffee taste like?
Chocolatey and citrusy, by the official description. The denomination of origin Café Chichontepec, one of six registered with El Salvador’s Centro Nacional de Registros and owned by the state, describes a chocolatey, citrus aroma, a body of medium intensity with a creamy texture, bright, citric acidity, and flavours of chocolate, orange and light notes of passion fruit, Marcasur reports. Each denomination is run by an administrative body responsible for defending, promoting and controlling it.
Where is it grown?
The denomination covers coffee above 800 metres in San Vicente, San Cayetano Istepeque, Tepetitán and Guadalupe, in the department of San Vicente, and in San Miguel Tepezontes, San Juan Tepezontes, San Emigdio, Zacatecoluca, San Pedro Nonualco, Santiago Nonualco, San Juan Nonualco and Santa María Ostuma, in La Paz. The Consejo Salvadoreño del Café (CSC) put the region’s coffee at 500 to 1,000 metres in 2016, the lowest top altitude of any Salvadoran region, and all of it under shade. Nationally, Bourbon and Pacas made up 62% and 31% of El Salvador’s coffee in 2016.
How much coffee does it grow?
| Measure | Figure | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Area, 2016 | 6,075 ha (4.6% of the national coffee area) | CSC, via ICO |
| Share of production | 4% | FIAES, via El Diario de Hoy |
Chichontepec is one of the three smallest of the six regions, with Cacahuatique (about 4%) and Alotepec-Metapán (about 2%). In 2021 the agriculture ministry counted 24,500 registered coffee growers and 200,000 manzanas of coffee across the six regions, and announced a plan to renew 50,000 manzanas with rust-resistant varieties of good cup quality.
Chichontepec and other Salvadoran origins
- Coffee in El Salvador: the whole country, its six ranges and its history.
- El Bálsamo-Quezaltepeque: the larger range to the west.
- Tecapa-Chinameca: the range to the east.
Questions & answers
What does Chichontepec coffee taste like?
Its denomination of origin describes a chocolatey, citrus aroma, a body of medium intensity with a creamy texture, bright, citric acidity, and flavours of chocolate and orange with light notes of passion fruit.
Where is Chichontepec?
In central El Salvador. The denomination covers San Vicente, San Cayetano Istepeque, Tepetitán and Guadalupe in San Vicente, and San Miguel Tepezontes, San Juan Tepezontes, San Emigdio, Zacatecoluca, San Pedro Nonualco, Santiago Nonualco, San Juan Nonualco and Santa María Ostuma in La Paz.
How high is Chichontepec coffee grown?
Lower than in most Salvadoran regions: the Consejo Salvadoreño del Café put it at 500 to 1,000 metres in 2016. The denomination of origin applies from 800 metres.
How much coffee does Chichontepec grow?
About 4% of El Salvador's coffee, on 6,075 hectares in 2016, making it one of the three smallest of the country's six coffee regions.
Sources
- Denominaciones de Origen: zonas cafetaleras de El Salvador. Marcasur
- El Salvador (presentation to the International Coffee Council, 2016). International Coffee Organization
- Productores luchan para mantener cultivo de café en Jujutla. El Diario de Hoy
- Recuperar la producción cafetalera es rescatar el patrimonio de El Salvador. Ministerio de Agricultura y Ganadería