Tecapa-Chinameca
Coffee from Tecapa-Chinameca, El Salvador: the range around Berlín and Santiago de María, at 500–2,139 m, with chocolate, peach and passion fruit notes.
What is Tecapa-Chinameca coffee?
Coffee from the Tecapa-Chinameca range in eastern El Salvador, around Berlín, Alegría and Santiago de María, and Chinameca in San Miguel. El Salvador's third coffee region, with about 10–12% of the crop, it grows coffee under shade at 500 to 2,139 metres. Its denomination of origin describes citric and malic acidity with chocolate, red wine, peach, clove, passion fruit, mamey and pineapple.
At a glance
2026- Species
- Arabica
- Altitude
- 500–2,139 m (CSC, 2016); denomination of origin from 900 m
- Harvest
- October to March nationally (CSC)
- Production
- 10% of El Salvador's coffee and 11% of its growers (CSC, 2023); 12% (FIAES)
- Area under coffee
- 15,705 ha, 11.8% of the coffee area (CSC, 2016)
- Main varieties
- Pacamara
- Processing
- Washed, Natural
- Typical cup
- Citric and malic acidity; chocolate, red wine, peach, clove, fruit, passion fruit, mamey and pineapple (denomination of origin).
- Protected name
- Denomination of origin Café Tecapa-Chinameca, from 900 m
Other figures describe 2026 and come from the sources at the end of this page. Updated once a year.
Tecapa-Chinameca is eastern El Salvador’s main coffee range. Around the towns of Berlín, Alegría and Santiago de María, and Chinameca to the east, farms grow shade coffee up to more than 2,100 metres. It is the country’s third coffee region, and its denomination of origin describes a strikingly fruit-forward profile.
The short version
- The third-largest coffee region: about 10–12% of the crop.
- 500–2,139 metres under shade; the denomination starts at 900 m.
- Chocolate, red wine, peach and passion fruit, with citric and malic acidity.
- A 90.45-point Pacamara in the 2024 Cup of Excellence.
- Harvest October to March.
What does Tecapa-Chinameca coffee taste like?
Fruity and winey, by the official description. The denomination of origin Café Tecapa-Chinameca, registered with the Centro Nacional de Registros, describes citric and malic acidity with flavours of chocolate, red wine, peach, clove, fruit, passion fruit, mamey and pineapple, Marcasur reports. At the top, the region competes with the best: in the 2024 Cup of Excellence, Los Pirineos, entered by Agricafé, placed third with a natural, anaerobic Pacamara scoring 90.45, the Alliance for Coffee Excellence reports.
Where is it grown?
The denomination covers coffee above 900 metres in Berlín, San Agustín, Alegría, Santiago de María, California, Tecapán, Jucuapa and Santa Elena, and in San Miguel, Chinameca and San Jorge in the department of San Miguel. The Consejo Salvadoreño del Café (CSC) put the region’s coffee at 500 to 2,139 metres in 2016, the second-widest range after Apaneca-Ilamatepec, all of it under shade. The national harvest runs from October to March, with planting in June and July.
How much coffee does it grow?
| Measure | Figure | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Area, 2016 | 15,705 ha (11.8% of the national coffee area) | CSC, via ICO |
| Share of production, 2023 | 10% | CSC, via El Mundo |
| Share of growers, 2023 | 11% | CSC, via El Mundo |
| Share of production | 12% | FIAES, via El Diario de Hoy |
Its share has held at roughly a tenth to an eighth of the crop, behind Apaneca-Ilamatepec and El Bálsamo-Quezaltepeque. Nationally, El Salvador harvested more than 4 million quintales a year between 1980 and 1993, and as little as 700,025 in 2013-14, the agriculture ministry says.
Tecapa-Chinameca and other Salvadoran origins
- Coffee in El Salvador: the whole country, its six ranges and its history.
- Cacahuatique: the range to the north, in Morazán.
- Chichontepec: the range to the west, around San Vicente.
Questions & answers
What does Tecapa-Chinameca coffee taste like?
Its denomination of origin describes citric and malic acidity with flavours of chocolate, red wine, peach, clove, fruit, passion fruit, mamey and pineapple.
Where is Tecapa-Chinameca?
In eastern El Salvador. The denomination covers Berlín, San Agustín, Alegría, Santiago de María, California, Tecapán, Jucuapa and Santa Elena, and San Miguel, Chinameca and San Jorge in San Miguel department.
How much coffee does it grow?
About a tenth of El Salvador's: 10% of production and 11% of growers in 2023, according to the Consejo Salvadoreño del Café, on 15,705 hectares in 2016.
Has Tecapa-Chinameca coffee won prizes?
Yes. In the 2024 Cup of Excellence, a natural anaerobic Pacamara from Los Pirineos placed third in its category with 90.45 points.
Sources
- Recuperar la producción cafetalera es rescatar el patrimonio de El Salvador. Ministerio de Agricultura y Ganadería
- 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