🫖 Nicaragua 🫖

Grown by: Ana and Martha Lucia Albir Sotomayor
Process: Honey
Location: Ocotal, Nueva Segovia
Varietal: Caturra, Red Catuai
Sourced through: Falcon

This is a sweet and full-bodied coffee with notes of Christmas pudding and chocolate biscuits!

Best served as filter or cafetiere, but really a great all-rounder.

Background info:

Cafetos de Segovia, established in 2015 by sisters Ana and Martha Albir Sotomayor, represents the third generation of a family deeply rooted in coffee farming in Nicaragua. Their mission was to process and export high-quality coffee from their farms and other local estates. Today, the cooperative boasts over 40 seasonal workers, including 19 women from the Mozonte region, and employs eight permanent staff members.

Annually, Cafetos de Segovia exports 6,000 quintals of coffee (approximately 272,500 kilograms). The main office is located at Km 231, Carretera Ocotal - Jalapa, 300 meters north of Ramamesa, Mozonte, Nueva Segovia, Nicaragua. The cooperative includes Finca Agua Sarca, Finca El Naranjal, and Finca Santa Helena.

The cooperative provides its members with technical assistance, continuous quality improvement training, and financial support for farm enhancements and harvest estimates. They hold HACCP certification under the Nicaraguan Institute for Agricultural Protection and Health (IPSA), ensuring the highest standards of sanitary and phytosanitary measures.

Vista al Cielo farm is owned by Martha Lucia Albir Sotomayor, who acquired it in 2022 through purchase. Located in the Los Arados community, Los Volcancitos sector of Nueva Segovia, the farm spans 3.53 hectares with an average yield of 10 quintals of coffee per hectare. The farm sits at an altitude of 1250-1400 meters and cultivates Caturra and Catuaí Rojo varieties on sandy loam soils. The harvest season extends from November to March. Vista al Cielo employs ten workers during the harvest and processing periods.

The Vista al Cielo lot is cultivated at altitudes between 1350 and 1450 meters on a 3.53-hectare plot. The farm uses eco-friendly practices, providing shade with forest species, fruit trees, and bananas. Low-intensity pesticides (green labels), organic fertilizers, and synthetic fertilizers are utilized. Regular pruning and shade management improve plant health, and only ripe cherries are manually harvested.

After selection, the cherries are floated and depulped, then packed in plastic bags and macen sacks, and fermented for 36 hours before being sent to the processing facility. The coffee is transported in plastic bags and macen sacks, ensuring cleanliness throughout the journey.

At the dry mill, the coffee is dried on African beds under covered structures (micro-tunnels), never touching the ground. PVC rakes are used for movement, maintaining cleanliness. Once dried, the coffee is stored separately in designated areas within the warehouse, always in new plastic bags and macen sacks. The coffee is then rested for about a month, hulled, classified, and packed in jute sacks and Ecotact bags for export, adhering to ICO standards.

Vista al Cielo farm supports various social and environmental initiatives, promoting sustainability in all aspects. They support educational social projects within the community, providing school supplies to primary school children. Farmers are paid based on the quality of their coffee, with a premium for well-processed parchment coffee.

The primary challenge faced by Vista al Cielo is climate change, which has increased production costs. Future plans include improving the wet processing system and implementing tunnels for coffee pre-drying.