Nicaragua washed Arabica SHG EP Organic

In this large but thinly populated country, coffee production has suffered for a long time from devastating hurricanes and political and financial instability. Nevertheless, coffee is Nicaragua’s main export product. Producers are keen to develop their agricultural practices within an improving infrastructure to revive their reputation in the specialty coffee scene.

This coffee was produced by farmer members of the Unión de Cooperativas Agropecuarias San Juan del Rio Coco (UCA SJRC), located in the department of Madriz. Founded in 1993, it is one of the first organizations to promote the growth and commercialization of organic coffee in Nicaragua. It is composed of 8 smaller cooperatives, who altogether have around 370 members across different communities in San Juan del Rio Coco, in the north of Nicaragua. The cooperative is named after El Rio Coco, the largest river in Central America, flowing on the border of northern Nicaragua and southern Honduras.

Most farms are very small, spanning less than 3 hectares of land. During the harvest season, ripe cherry is collected by hand and then floated to remove and unripe cherries or foreign matter. The cherries are then de-pulped and fermented in tanks, then washed in the wet mill before finally being dried. Many farmers bring their parchment to the cooperative’s facilities to dry. After optimal drying, coffees are sorted and prepared for export.

This coffee from Madriz is Organic certified. It is also classified as Strictly High Grown (SHG), specifying that it was grown at altitudes of 1,200 masl. These coffees tend to have an excellent reputation. Due to the higher altitudes and cooler temperatures, beans develop more slowly and mature into very dense and rich coffee cherries, often offering high complexity and sweetness in the cup.