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How to Brew Tropical Fruit-Flavored Nicaragua Prometido Farm Natural Java Variety by Pour-Over

Published: 2026-01-27 Author: FrontStreet Coffee

Last Updated: 2026/01/27, Professional coffee knowledge exchange. For more coffee bean information, please follow Coffee Workshop (WeChat public account: cafe_style). Tropical fruit-flavored Nicaragua Prometido Farm

Professional coffee knowledge exchange, more coffee bean information, please follow Coffee Workshop (WeChat public account: cafe_style)

How to Brew Tropical Fruit-Flavored Natural Java from Nicaragua's Prometido Farm

Java actually originates from the Abyssinia variety of Ethiopia. Its unique flavor and intense aroma made this natural process bean roasted by Hatch very popular among many friends at the cupping table of the Taiwan Coffee Exhibition. Java beans from Ethiopia might be a variety as legendary as Geisha in the history of specialty coffee propagation. Nicaragua, troubled by civil war, actually obtained this rare variety as early as the 1980s and 1990s, but it was buried in experimental farms and not promoted to farmers in time. It wasn't until the Mierisch father and son accidentally bought a bag of Java seeds that it took root and entered Nicaraguan farmers' coffee plantations.

Although named Java, this is absolutely not an Indonesian variety. Java originates from Ethiopia. As early as the 19th century, the Dutch introduced this variety from Ethiopia to Indonesia and named it Java. In the mid-20th century, these seeds were collected in Indonesia by the famous breeder Porteres and sent to Cameroon in Africa. There, another breeder Pierre Bouharmont discovered that Java had partial resistance to coffee berry disease, which was quite troubling to African coffee growers, and it produced quite good yields without requiring much fertilizer. After 20 years of optimized selection, Cameroon released this variety between 1980-1990 for farmers to cultivate. It features passion fruit, mango, and jasmine flavors.

Although this is the first Java we've put on our shelves, this year we have already cupped many Javas from different producing regions in our master classes. Updated genetic research proves that Java might be one of the most complex historical varieties among all coffee varieties, if not counting Geisha.

Through genetic fingerprinting of molecular markers, research institutions have determined that Java comes from the local Ethiopian variety Abyssinia. If grown at high altitudes, Java can achieve excellent quality, even comparable to Geisha!

In 1991, Java was sent to Costa Rica through breeder Benoit Bertrand and provided to small coffee farmers, allowing them to get a new variety that required less fertilizer and could resist berry disease, although serious berry disease outbreaks had not yet occurred in Central America at that time. Based on this consideration, seeds were sent to all countries in the PROMECAFE mutual alliance, but were never truly promoted and planted in those countries. The first Central American country to actually release it was Panama.

Nicaragua should also have obtained this variety in the 1990s, but it was not promoted to farmers. The Nicaraguan Java we know today is also called Javanica locally. According to Erwin Mierisch of the Mierisch family, his father "rescued" a batch of Java seeds from a research institution. At that time, the research institution had obtained some African seeds and experimented in their garden nursery, but due to years of war in Nicaragua, this institution could no longer operate. The father and son encountered a person selling a 20-pound bag of seeds at the closed research site, "labeled Variedad Java." Out of curiosity, they bought this batch of coffee, and after several years of experimental planting, they finally successfully produced Java.

Java beans are quite distinctive, similar to Ethiopian Longberry. The tree shape is similar to Geisha trees, with main branches forming right angles with the trunk. The bean shape is also similar to Geisha, and the cup profile shows floral aromas rarely seen in Central and South American beans. In 2008, the Mierisch family won the COE runner-up with Java, and now more and more farms in Nicaragua are growing Java, making it an important producing region in Central America.

Nicaragua Prometido Farm Natural Java Batch

Coffee farmer Luis Alberto Balladarez is a renowned figure in Nicaragua. His farm and washing station have won multiple Cup of Excellence awards. When Luis first won the Cup of Excellence, he donated all the bidding income to the local municipal government as funding for community housing construction - a noble and excellent farmer.

He has three farms: La Esperanza (Hope), Un Regalo de Dios (A Gift from God), and Lo Prometido (The Promise). From these names, one can see he is a devout Christian. Un Regalo de Dios won 3rd place in the 2010 COE and 13th place this year, while La Esperanza won 19th place in 2010. Even more rare is that not only do his own farms have brilliant records, but his washing station Beneficio Las Segovias also processes cherries from local coffee farmers, teaching processing techniques and achieving outstanding results. The 4th place finishes in both 2014 and 2015 came from his washing station. Un Regalo de Dios's 2010 winning score was 91.31 points!

Luis Alberto Balladarez's farms and washing station are located in the Nueva Segovia region. This coffee comes from Prometido Farm, located in the Dipilto-Jalapa mountain range, at an altitude between 1500 to 1670 meters, with a cloud-shrouded microclimate. Residents come from the La Soledad community in Mozonte, between Mozonte and Dipilto. Prometido covers an area of 28 hectares, with 12 hectares planted with coffee, and the northern 16-hectare area is entirely holly and pine forest.

Prometido is divided into the following sections, producing different variety batches, among which Java might be the rarest variety:

La Entrada batch – Red Catuai
Las Calas batch – Red Catuai
Las Minas – Maracaturra and Java
El Caracol – Maracaturra and Pacamara
El Africano – SL28 and Red Catuai
El Java – Java

Nueva Segovia, near the Honduran border, is Nicaragua's best producing region. Almost all the top five places in each Cup of Excellence are taken by Nueva Segovia.