Volcanic ash and cup profile

[Piero Cristiani]

Volcanic ash has fallen in El Salvador's coffee crops in the past and now Colombia is at risk. I've heard people say that ashes changed the profile of the cup, in most cases making it a more interesting/better cup.

Can anyone verify this?

[Robert Goble]

I imagine ash on crops/in the air does a few things: Interferes with photosynthesis, decreases overall measure of sunlight reaching crops, acts as a mild insect prophylactic, changes the soil... Anyone have an real scientific info on what something like this can do to crops? What are the systemic ramifications?

[Piero Cristiani]

In El Salvador the mix of ash, the soil and water also created a cement like "brick" so to speak. But many claimed that the change in soil composition in future crops actually changed the cup...

[sweetmarias]

yeah - it didn't allow water to permeate the soil surface around santa ana. i can't see what's good about that. i was there after that one, and the trees were leafless but the cherries were still there, burned on the top where the ash had settled on them. i have a picture somewhere on our site of that. very odd