Finca Los Pirineos
Sources: Tim Wendelboe (website); The Barn (website); Terres de Café (website)
Finca Los Pirineos is a premier specialty coffee farm located on top of the Tecapa volcano in Chinameca, Usulután, El Salvador — placing it in the Tecapa-Chinchontepec growing region. The farm has been in the Baraona family for over 130 years and is now operated by Diego Baraona (5th generation), who took over in 2020 after the death of his father, the legendary producer Gilberto Baraona.
Farm Facts
| Attribute | Details |
|---|---|
| Location | Chinameca, Usulután (Tecapa volcano) |
| Size | 150+ hectares |
| Altitude | 1,100–1,400 masl |
| Shade | Partial shade from native trees |
| Soil | Rich volcanic soil |
| Cultivars | 80+ planted over time; 25 currently in production |
| Focus varieties | Pacamara, Sudan Rume, Pink Bourbon, Bourbon Elite |
Diego Baraona — Succession
Diego Baraona was 25 years old and living in Barcelona when his father Gilberto Baraona died unexpectedly. He faced a stark choice: sell a farm that had been in his family for over a century, or return to El Salvador and become a coffee farmer. He chose the latter.
Diego approached the transition with humility — immediately consulting the existing farm team, asking for their advice and loyalty. Within three years he had become an accomplished farm manager and a skilled coffee taster, using his cupping ability to refine processing and flavour development. He has inherited his father’s visionary character and has articulated a clear long-term development plan for the farm.
Tim Wendelboe, who knew Gilberto personally, credits Diego’s humble, team-first approach with making the succession successful. (source: Tim Wendelboe (website))
Varieties
The farm has planted over 80 different cultivars over the years. Currently producing 25. Diego is consolidating focus on four varieties:
- Pacamara — the farm’s flagship; multiple Cup of Excellence awards. See Coffee Varieties.
- Sudan Rume — rare Ethiopian wild variety; prized for exceptional cup quality.
- Pink Bourbon — described as “most likely an Ethiopian cultivar”; sweet and fruit-forward.
- Bourbon Elite — Gilberto Baraona’s named Bourbon strain, claimed to originate from original Réunion Island genetic material.
Tim Wendelboe’s first engagement with the farm (2010) was motivated by the sweet flavour profile of Bourbon Elite — before Pacamara became the flagship. (source: Tim Wendelboe (website))
Processing
Los Pirineos is fully self-sufficient in processing — wet mill, dry mill, and raised drying beds all on-farm.
Methods offered: Carbonic macerated (CM), natural, honey, semi-washed.
Semi-washed note: Parchment coffee is fermented but cleaned with a mechanical mucilage remover — distinguishing it from a traditional fully-washed process.
Water constraint: The farm collects approximately 4 million liters of rainwater annually from its water basin — the only water source on the property. This scarcity drives production of natural and honey processed coffees, which require significantly less water than washed processing. See Carbonic Maceration and Coffee Processing.
Drying: All lots for Tim Wendelboe are dried on raised beds under shade nets — slower drying improves shelf life and cup cleanliness. Post-drying storage in airtight GrainPro bags, then vacuum packed for export. (source: Tim Wendelboe (website))
Farm Management Structure
Diego has organised operations into three teams:
- Farm management team — agricultural operations: planting, propagating seeds, pruning, fertilising, shade trees, weed control; manages seasonal harvest pickers.
- Mill management team — all processing, drying, and export preparation; manages diverse client specifications across different buyers.
- Office team (San Salvador) — accounting, export paperwork, invoicing, sample shipments.
Diego employs local workers from the Tecapa volcano community, offering fair wages and good conditions — enabling consistent staffing year-round and producing high-quality, well-trained harvesting and processing teams. (source: Tim Wendelboe (website))
International Buyer Relationships
Paso Paso — Co-Ownership (Structural, Ongoing)
Diego Baraona is an equity shareholder in Paso Paso (Istmo Producers Collective GmbH, Hannover), a farmer-owned specialty roaster founded in 2024. The company’s statutes commit Paso Paso to exclusive purchase from its farmer-shareholders for as long as the company exists. Diego profits twice: first on green coffee export, then via dividends from the roastery.
This is not a buyer-supplier relationship — it is co-ownership. Paso Paso cannot source El Salvador coffee from any other producer. (source: Paso Paso (website))
Current active products from Los Pirineos (2025 harvest, as of May 2026 both sold out):
- Bourbon Elite Washed — €47/kg retail
- Pacamara Anaerobic Natural — €61/kg retail
- Corazón Oscuro dark espresso blend (Los Pirineos + Aquiares, Costa Rica)
Terres de Café (Active, Ongoing)
Terres de Café (Paris) sources Los Pirineos Pacamara at €20.76 / 250g (≈€83/kg retail), offered in both espresso and filter roasts. Terres de Café lists Los Pirineos as one of its two “famous” El Salvador partner farms (alongside Finca Himalaya), suggesting a long-standing relationship. The coffee appears across multiple product categories including 1 kg bulk format and the Score 80+ range. (source: Terres de Café (website))
Tim Wendelboe (Primary, Ongoing)
Tim Wendelboe (Oslo, Norway) has sourced from Los Pirineos since 2010 — beginning at a Cup of Excellence auction. This is one of the longest-running direct-trade relationships in Salvadoran specialty coffee.
Wendelboe’s historical spec: semi-washed and honey processed lots, dried on raised beds under shade nets, defect-free, screen-sorted by cultivar, vacuum packed. His stated preference is for cleaner, “true to cultivar” profiles over CM or natural lots.
⚠️ Process discrepancy: The current active product (February 2025 harvest) listed on the Tim Wendelboe website is Washed — not semi-washed or honey. This may indicate a spec change, or a one-off washed purchase alongside the usual semi-washed/honey lots. Verify before citing the historical spec as current.
Current active product: Los Pirineos Pacamara (February 2025, Washed) at $20 / 250g. Flavour notes: tart red berries, stone fruit, dark chocolate. (source: Tim Wendelboe (website))
TW Biological Project: Since November 2023, Tim Wendelboe has been running a 3-year regenerative farming trial (TW Biological Project, with Biofilia/Mexico) across all his Central and South American farms — Los Pirineos is included. The goal is for all purchased coffees to come from regenerative systems by 2034. See Tim Wendelboe for details.
The Barn (Historical, 2017)
In October 2017, Berlin roastery The Barn Coffee Roasters featured Gilberto Baraona in an interview, calling Los Pirineos “one of the most advanced coffee farms in El Salvador.” They sold a Twin Box featuring filter roasts of Bourbon and Pacamara from Los Pirineos. No active Los Pirineos or El Salvador coffees appear in The Barn’s current catalogue (as of April 2026). (source: The Barn (website))
Competitive and Strategic Relevance for Kaiserblick
- Los Pirineos demonstrates sustained international premium export from El Salvador at $200/kg retail (Tim Wendelboe) — directly relevant to Kaiserblick Specialty Coffee’s export ambitions.
- Both farms grow Pacamara and Bourbon — the same conversation-starting varieties for European buyers.
- The farm’s self-sufficient processing model (wet mill, dry mill, raised beds, vacuum packing) matches Kaiserblick’s operational direction.
- Los Pirineos is in Usulután (Tecapa region), not Apaneca-Ilamatepec — demonstrating premium export quality is achievable from multiple Salvadoran growing regions.