New from Nicaragua: San Jose & Los Altos

Though our trip to Central America was barely 4 months ago, it seemed like ages ago that we were cupping at Beneficio Don Estaban in Matagalpa. This year, we had very little time in Nicaragua, barely a couple of hours to catch up with Dr Mierisch as well as cup coffees from this year’s harvest. Like many other farms across Central America, the Mierisch’s farms are affected by the coffee rust disease (“la roya”) and some are more affected than others (more on the coffee rust disease in our next post). The onset of “la roya” led to experimentation of new varietals which are found to be more resistant to the coffee rust. Growing rust-resistant varietals might be a long term solution, but many have to rely on stronger fertilizers as an immediate measure to counteract the threatening fungus. The application of fertilizers is expensive and while bigger estate owners like the Mierisch family can afford to do so, other small producers struggle to afford and government assistance is limited. Despite prevention measures taken to fight the coffee rust, there was a considerable drop in production. The only comfort was the quality of the coffees held up on the cupping table. Over 3 rounds of cupping, we tried coffees from different farms, different varietals and different processing methods. We found some gems that we really like and it is always rewarding to cup with other more experienced green coffee buyers whom we look to learn from.

Having waited so long for the first shipment of coffees from Central America to arrive, we decided to roll out not one, but TWO new coffees, Finca San Jose and Finca Los Altos.

These two coffees are both from the Jinotega region of Nicaragua. When we first cupped the Javanica varietal from Finca San Jose, it reminded us of an Ethiopian Yirgacheffe. The floral notes are so distinct and it was delicately sweet which we thought would be beautiful as a brewed coffee. As for Los Altos, the balance of this coffee stood out on the table. The lot we bought is of Red Bourbon varietal. It has rich fruits overtones that give it a punchy start and ends off with a decadent chocolate finish. We are guessing this will be a crowd pleaser as a single origin espresso. The two coffees showcase different types of sweetness, both equally enjoyable.

• Farm: San Jose
• Producer: Mierisch Family
• Community: Lipululo
• Region: Jinotega, Nicaragua
• Farm Manager: Jesus Antonio Cruz
• Varietal: Javanica
• Altitude: 1250-1600m asl
• Processing: Dry fermented then washed

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• Farm: Los Altos
• Producer: Mierisch Family
• Municipality: Laguna Verde
• Region: Jinotega, Nicaragua
• Farm Manager: Fausto Martinez Miranda
• Varietal: Red Bourbon
• Altitude: 1275-1400m asl
• Processing: Dry fermented then washed

New coffee: Finca Los Placeres Pacamara

Some of you might have had a preview of this new coffee at our shop recently, Los Placeres. This single origin, single varietal fresh crop coffee comes from our latest direct trade import from Nicaragua. Its name means ‘the pleasures’ in Spanish. This is definitely an apt name for its cup profile, one which got us to discover the simple pleasures of an everyday cup.

How we came about this coffee traces back to our travels last year which started with New York, a city that meant a great deal to us for the inspirations behind Nylon. While coffee crawling in the Big Apple city, we found out about a coffee event at a then new restaurant, Vandaag. It was a free tasting event with well-known names from Scandinavia, including Casper Rasmussen of Coffee Collective (Denmark), Tim Wendelboe himself (Norway, 2005 WBC champ), Tim Varney (Roaster @timwendelboe) and Stephen Morrissey (Ecco Cafe/Intelligentsia). An opportunity to taste coffee from the Nordic roasters was like an early X'mas gift for us. The experience was priceless. We had the most amazing v60 pourovers from Tim Wendelboe, Coffee Collective and Ecco. Besides having a chance to connect with these roasters and world-class baristas, we also got to speak to Steve Mierisch, who works for Intelligentsia. Steve is a member of the Mierisch family, who has been farming in Nicaragua for over 100 years. We chatted with Steve about our upcoming trip to Central America, and he was so kind to offer to connect us with his sister, Eleane, who might be able to show us around their coffee farms if our schedule permits.

Unfortunately, we did not get to visit the Mierisch farms, but we did get a chance to visit a small coffee farm in Matagalpa to learn more about the local farming and processing operations through a small cooperative, CECOSEMAC. Fast forward to November, we traveled to Seoul to attend the International Cafe Show, where coincidentally, we met Erwin Mierisch, brother of Steve, at the trade show! We were thrilled to meet the farmer himself and shared with him our encounter with Steve & the beautiful coffees we had from their farms, Finca Limoncillo and Finca La Escondida.

Our brief run-up with Erwin helped to lay the path towards the start of a direct relationship with the producer. We were initially worried that given the volume constraints we have as a micro-roaster, they might not be able to work with us. However, our worries were unwarranted as the Mierisch family are truly supportive of working directly with roasters. So despite our “mini” size, they sent us a bunch of samples that cupped very well. We selected 3 farms of different varietals, each with characteristics that we thought are interesting to share with our customers.

One of which was Los Placeres, which blew us away the first time we cupped this coffee, for the explosion of flavours. The bean varietal, Pacamara, is a hybrid between 2 varietals - Pacas and Maragogype. This giant bean type is quite a nut case to crack when we test roasted the new arrivals with different roast profiles. We finally pinned down a roast profile which brought out the intricate citrus & fruity notes ending off with a chocolate finish. We love it being super clean and balanced, with hints of honey and caramel as the cup cool. We think this is a very pleasing “everyday” cup of brew and the pleasant body will attract many more fans.

We have started brewing Los Placeres in the shop and it is definitely becoming a crowd pleaser. It works particularly well on the Kalita and Clever dripper and is recommended as a filtered coffee only.