EL SALVADOR LAS MERCEDES LA MONTAÑA SL28 #2648

SL28 is one of Africa’s most renowned Arabica coffee varieties, originally selected in Kenya in 1935 from a drought-resistant population known as Tanganyika Drought Resistant. It was developed at the Scott Agricultural Laboratories (now the National Agricultural Laboratories, NARL, Kabete) as part of a breeding program that studied 42 coffee trees for yield, quality, and resistance traits. SL28 proved notable for its drought tolerance and rusticity—some trees in Kenya remain productive after 60–80 years. From its Kenyan origins, SL28 spread across East Africa—especially Uganda—and more recently into Latin America. Genetic studies link SL28 to the Bourbon group.

We at Klatch Coffee were drawn to Las Mercedes because of its great coffee, but we found what we fell in love with was the people, the process, and our shared passion for persistently striving to make coffee the best it can be. The Las Mercedes farm process begins with hand picking only ripe, mature cherries, and then carefully screening them before depulping to eliminate twigs, leaves, and other foreign material. At the wet mill, the cherries are received into ceramic tiled ditches, washed with fresh collected rainwater, and immediately fed into a pulper. These pulpers are designed to separate the bean from the flesh of the fruit while leaving each bean intact in its parchment envelope.

Established in 1922 by the British colonial government, Scott Agricultural Laboratories became a key center for coffee research in East Africa. Housed in buildings formerly used as a WWI hospital and named after missionary Dr. Henry Scott, the labs hosted agronomists, mycologists, and breeders. The Coffee Section moved there in 1934 and focused on variety trials, grafting, and shade studies. In 1949, Kenya relocated coffee research to a larger station at Jacaranda Estates, with additional substations established in subsequent years across the country.