El Bálsamo-Quezaltepeque
Coffee from El Bálsamo-Quezaltepeque, El Salvador: the coastal range and San Salvador volcano, over a quarter of the crop, with plum, caramel and citrus notes.
What is El Bálsamo-Quezaltepeque coffee?
Coffee from El Salvador's second-largest coffee region, the El Bálsamo range and the Quezaltepeque (San Salvador) area, in La Libertad, San Salvador and Sonsonate. It has about 28% of the country's coffee land and over a quarter of its output, grown under shade at 500 to 1,960 metres, and its denomination of origin describes plum, raisin, caramel, floral and chocolate aromas, a creamy body and citric acidity.
At a glance
2026- Species
- Arabica
- Altitude
- 500–1,960 m (CSC, 2016); denomination of origin from 800 m
- Harvest
- October to March nationally (CSC)
- Production
- 26% of El Salvador's coffee and 28% of its growers (CSC, 2023); 28% (FIAES)
- Area under coffee
- 37,545 ha, 28.3% of the coffee area (CSC, 2016)
- Main varieties
- Bourbon, Typica, Pacamara
- Processing
- Washed, Honey, Semi-washed
- Typical cup
- Plum, raisin, caramel, floral and chocolate aromas; soft, creamy body; citric acidity (denomination of origin).
- Protected name
- Denomination of origin Café Bálsamo-Quezaltepec, from 800 m
Other figures describe 2026 and come from the sources at the end of this page. Updated once a year.
El Bálsamo-Quezaltepeque is El Salvador’s second coffee region. Its farms lie in the Bálsamo range and around Quezaltepeque, in the departments of La Libertad, San Salvador and Sonsonate, around the capital. It grows over a quarter of the country’s coffee, and its denomination of origin promises a fruity, caramel-sweet cup.
The short version
- The second-largest coffee region: about 28% of the coffee land.
- 500–1,960 metres, all under shade; the denomination starts at 800 m.
- Plum, raisin, caramel and chocolate, with citric acidity.
- Cup of Excellence places in 2024, 2025 and 2026.
- Harvest October to March.
What does El Bálsamo-Quezaltepeque coffee taste like?
Fruity and caramel-sweet, by the official description. The denomination of origin Café Bálsamo-Quezaltepec, one of six registered with El Salvador’s Centro Nacional de Registros and owned by the state, describes aromas of plum, raisins, caramel, flowers and chocolate, a soft, creamy body and citric acidity, Marcasur reports. Recent Cup of Excellence results:
| Year | Farm | Coffee | Place | Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | San Antonio de Alejandría | Pacamara, honey | 5th | 89.18 |
| 2025 | Miramar | Bourbon and Typica, semi-washed | 5th | 88.88 |
| 2026 | Miramar | Bourbon and Typica, semi-washed | 8th | 87.95 |
Source: Alliance for Coffee Excellence.
Where is it grown?
The denomination covers coffee above 800 metres in La Libertad, in Santa Tecla, Colón, Antiguo and Nuevo Cuscatlán, Huizúcar, Sacacoyo, Tepecoyo, Jayaque, Talnique, Tamanique, Teotepeque, Comasagua, Quezaltepeque and San Juan Opico; in San Salvador, in San Salvador, Nejapa, Santiago Texacuangos, Santo Tomás and San Marcos; and in Sonsonate, in San Julián and Santa Isabel Ishuatán. The Consejo Salvadoreño del Café (CSC) put the region’s coffee at 500 to 1,960 metres in 2016, all of it grown under shade, as across El Salvador.
How much coffee does it grow?
| Measure | Figure | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Area, 2016 | 37,545 ha (28.3% of the national coffee area) | CSC, via ICO |
| Share of production, 2023 | 26% | CSC, via El Mundo |
| Share of growers, 2023 | 28% | CSC, via El Mundo |
| Share of production | 28% | FIAES, via El Diario de Hoy |
Its share is second only to Apaneca-Ilamatepec, which has about half. Nationally, the coffee area was 14.7% smaller in 2022-23 than the CSC’s register showed, the council found.
El Bálsamo-Quezaltepeque and other Salvadoran origins
- Coffee in El Salvador: the whole country, its six ranges and its history.
- Apaneca-Ilamatepec: the largest range, to the west.
- Chichontepec: the smaller range to the east.
Questions & answers
What does El Bálsamo-Quezaltepeque coffee taste like?
Its denomination of origin describes aromas of plum, raisins, caramel, flowers and chocolate, a soft, creamy body and citric acidity.
Where is El Bálsamo-Quezaltepeque?
In central El Salvador, around the capital: the denomination covers municipalities of La Libertad (among them Santa Tecla, Comasagua, Jayaque and Tamanique), San Salvador (among them San Salvador, Nejapa and Santiago Texacuangos) and Sonsonate (San Julián and Santa Isabel Ishuatán).
How much coffee does it grow?
Over a quarter of El Salvador's crop: 26% of production and 28% of growers in 2023, the Consejo Salvadoreño del Café says, on 37,545 hectares in 2016.
Has El Bálsamo-Quezaltepeque coffee won prizes?
Yes. In the Cup of Excellence, a honey-processed Pacamara from San Antonio de Alejandría placed fifth in 2024 with 89.18, and Miramar placed fifth in 2025 with 88.88 and eighth in 2026.
Sources
- Denominaciones de Origen: zonas cafetaleras de El Salvador. Marcasur
- El Salvador (presentation to the International Coffee Council, 2016). International Coffee Organization
- El parque cafetalero es más pequeño de lo registrado, en 29,400 manzanas. Diario El Mundo
- Productores luchan para mantener cultivo de café en Jujutla. El Diario de Hoy
- El Salvador 2024 (Cup of Excellence results). Alliance for Coffee Excellence
- El Salvador 2025 (Cup of Excellence results). Alliance for Coffee Excellence
- El Salvador 2026 (Cup of Excellence results). Alliance for Coffee Excellence