La Fuente, Nicaragua

Tasting notes:

Plum, cherry and apple compote

Coffee info:

Producer / Farm: La Fuente 
Location: Ocotal, Nicaragua
Elevation: 1280-1360 masl
Variety: Catimore
Process: Washed

Farm info:

We are super excited to bring you La Fuente coffee from sisters Martha and Ana who run the Cafetos de Segovia farm where this coffee produced. We are currently drinking it as an espresso, as a fruitier alternative to our Brazilian espresso coffees. But it is tasting equality as good as a filter coffee, particularly in those brew methods with a longer contact time (Aeropress, Clever Dripper etc).

Like many farms in the area (in the north, bordering Honduras), the story of the farms’ ownership is a complex one. From 1975-1979 the Nicaraguan revolution hit the entire country, but it was even more intense at the Honduran border, forcing the family to emigrate to the USA. They returned to Ocotal six years later to find that their house and much of their farmland had been seized by the government. Only the house was returned to them – they had lost more than 100 manzanas (70ha) of coffee farm.

Most of the coffee is delivered as wet parchment or cherries and 80% of the lots are washed (like this coffee). The drying is usually started on a patio, in the shade for 5-6 days and then in full sun. All patios are covered with a black net so that the coffee is not laid directly on the floor. Shade drying is necessary as the sun hits hard at this lower altitude (less than 900masl).

Cafetos de Segovia submits lots to the national Cup of Excellence every year, and always ranks highly.

Coffee is grown here in an eco-friendly way. RFA standards are implemented on the farm. It has shade with forest species, fruit trees and mousavians. Low-intensity pesticides (green labels) are used on the farm; organic fertilizers and synthetic fertilizers are also used. Coffee trees are pruned and in the same way shade management is carried out, this in order to improve the infiltration of light in the farm. For the collection of coffee, only the ripe beans are collected.

After harvesting, the coffee is floated and pulped, and fermented for 18 to 24 hours before being washed. The coffee received in the dry mill, is sent to African beds inside a micro tunnel (greenhouse) for drying. In the mill, coffee is never in contact with the ground, and to move it during drying, PVC rakes are used. When the coffee is dry, it is stored in a special area within the cellar, always separated from the other coffees that are in the mill.

The coffee is lifted from patios at a humidity of 11 to 11.5% and stored and stowed in warehouses with the necessary conditions for the rest time of about a month).