Pour-Over Nicaragua Coffee Price Parameter Recommendations_How to Roast Nicaragua Coffee Beans

Nicaragua Coffee Bean Processing Factory Introduction

The Cafetos de Segovia micro-batch processing plant belongs to the second-generation sisters Ana and Martha Albir of the Albir family, who inherited their passion for coffee from their father. The family bought a coffee farm in 1991, but political disputes forced them to leave the country and stop the farm's daily operations. In 2007, Ana and Martha decided to take over the farm and carry on their father's work. In 2015 they also invested in a processing plant, and in 2016 began coffee processing at Cafetos de Segovia, providing processing and export services not only for their own family farm but for 11 nearby farms as well.

Origin Introduction

The Nueva Segovia region and its surrounding hills lie on the north-western border between Honduras and Nicaragua. Of all Nicaragua's coffee-producing regions, Nueva Segovia is one of the smallest, yet Segovia coffee has an excellent flavor. Nicaragua has grown coffee commercially for over a century, but political and economic instability have kept it from receiving much attention from coffee professionals. In recent years, plantations taken over during the Nicaraguan Revolution have been returned to local families, and the country is striving to become a distinctive coffee-producing nation.

Nicaragua Coffee Bean Analysis

Caturra is a natural mutation of Bourbon, discovered in Brazil in 1937. Its plant is shorter and more compact than Bourbon. Because it inherits Bourbon's bloodline, it has relatively weak disease resistance, but a higher yield than Bourbon. Although discovered in Brazil, Caturra is not suited to growing there, so it was not widely cultivated in the country; instead it became popular in Central and South America, in places such as Colombia, Costa Rica and Nicaragua.

Catuai is a variety artificially hybridised from Caturra and Mundo Novo. Catuai has good resistance to natural disasters, especially wind and rain. The Catuai tree is relatively short, and compared with other coffee trees its fruit grows more firmly and is not easy to pick. The fruit comes in both red and yellow varieties.

Processing Method Introduction

Honey processing is a method between natural and washed processing. By drying the coffee together with the pulp mucilage, it retains the cleanliness of washed processing while significantly increasing the coffee's sweetness and caramel flavor — the mucilage has an extremely high sugar content. Honey processing first appeared in Costa Rica in Central America, mainly because some high-altitude areas there lacked water resources, so the de-pulped fruit was sun-dried together with the mucilage.

Black honey processed coffee beans are dried in the shade for the longest time with the shortest sunlight exposure, with a minimum drying time of 2 weeks. Black honey processing is the most complex (the extended drying time requires longer monitoring to prevent mould and unwanted fermentation), has the highest labor cost and is therefore the most expensive.

Nicaragua Coffee Bean Roasting Analysis

This coffee belongs to SHG grade, with medium bean density. Roasting uses medium heat to raise the temperature gently, with yellowing at around 5 minutes, then reduces heat to enter the Maillard reaction. At 168°C, heat is reduced again to extend the Maillard reaction time, and the beans enter first crack with a relatively stable temperature difference.

First crack begins at 185-186°C, at which point there is a small exothermic process. It is recommended to reduce heat to develop flavor at 191°C, and finish at 195.8°C after 2 minutes and 20 seconds.

Roaster: Yangjia 600g semi-direct flame

Preheat the roaster to 200°C before loading beans, damper set to 3. Turn on heat after 30 seconds, heat adjustment to 140, damper unchanged. Temperature recovery point at 1'38", maintain heat. Yellowing at 5'10", grassy smell disappears, entering the dehydration stage. Heat reduced to 110, damper opened to 4. At 168°C, heat reduced again to 80.

At 8', dehydration is complete, the bean surface shows wrinkles and black spots, the toast aroma turns to coffee aroma — the prelude to first crack. Pay attention to the sound of first crack. First crack starts at 8'34", damper fully opened to 5. Post-first-crack development time 2 minutes and 20 seconds, heat reduced to 60 at 191°C, finish at 195.8°C.

This honey processed bean uses African-style drying racks instead of cement floors, accurately controlling the processing quality of the green beans. It has spice and herbal aromas, with dried fruit, genmaicha tea and a slight malic acid and sweetness on the cupping table, and an almond and berry aftertaste.

Nicaragua Black Honey Processing

Country: Nicaragua
Region: Nueva Segovia
Processing Plant: Cafetos de Segovia
Altitude: 1200-1400 meters
Variety: Caturra/Catuai
Grade: SHG
Processing Method: Black Honey Processing

Brewing Data

Recommended brewing method: Pour-over
Grind size: 3.5 (Fuji R440)
Water temperature: 91°C

V60 filter cup, 15g of coffee, water temperature 90-91°C, grind 3.5, water-to-coffee ratio close to 1:15

30ml water for bloom, bloom time 30s

Segmentation: pour water to 120ml, stop the flow, then slowly pour to 225ml

That is 30-120-75, total extraction time 2 minutes

Other drip extraction suggestions:

French press: recommended grind size 3.5-4, water temperature 90°C
AeroPress: recommended grind size 2.5, water temperature 90°C
Pour-over: grind size 3.5, water temperature 91°C
Grind size 3.5 - 90°C water temperature

Nicaragua Coffee Bean Brand Recommendation

The Nicaraguan coffee beans — Finca El Progreso Washed [Maracaturra] roasted by FrontStreet Coffee — offer full guarantees in both brand and quality. More importantly, they offer extremely high value, with each 227g package priced at only 90 yuan. Calculating at 15g of coffee beans per cup, one package makes 15 cups, at only about 6 yuan each, making it a conscientious recommendation compared to café prices that often exceed 100 yuan per cup.

FrontStreet Coffee Recommendation

FrontStreet Brazil Cerrado Red Bourbon Coffee — If you want to explore Brazilian origin in an approachable way, this semi-washed Cerrado lot is the place to begin. Cerrado is a well-known Brazilian region famous for high-quality beans, and this lot belongs to the Red Bourbon variety common in South America. Given a medium roast, it shows intense creamy peanut, toast, caramel and hazelnut aromas with a rounded body, no acidity and a light bitter note. It works not only for pour-over but also in a moka pot, as an espresso SOE, in a siphon or in a French press.

FrontStreet Brazil Queen Estate Yellow Bourbon Coffee — The Queen Estate lies in Mogiana, close to South Minas, where fertile red volcanic soil lets the cherries absorb abundant nutrients and develop a full aroma. Part of the area keeps to traditional farming while the rest has adopted modern, standardised management, and quality has improved markedly as a result. The variety here is the rare Yellow Bourbon, a mutation of Red Bourbon with a cleaner fruit character, and brewed as pour-over, in a moka pot or on a home espresso machine it reveals a sugarcane-like sweetness that other origins rarely offer, along with fruit and chocolate notes.

FrontStreet Signature Espresso Blend — Brazil's low acidity, balanced body and approachable price make it the first choice in many specialty espresso recipes, and FrontStreet's espresso line-up reflects that. This blend combines the creamy nuttiness of Brazilian coffee with the dark chocolate bittersweetness of Colombian coffee, and it extracts with a fine golden crema. It works beautifully with milk for a rich, smooth latte, is friendly to beginners, and serves as the base for americanos, cappuccinos and mochas.