Nicaragua Coffee Bean Selection - La Divina Providencia Coffee Farm [Pacamara]

Nicaragua Coffee Bean Selection - La Divina Providencia Coffee Farm's Pacamara Flavor and How to Brew by Pour-Over

La Divina Providencia, located in northern Nicaragua, is the country's "winningest" Cup of Excellence farm. Misael Sauceda and his wife Delbys operate a farm very close to the Honduran border. As with many farm histories, Misael Sauceda Olivera and his brother each inherited a portion of their father Porfirio Sauceda's land. Misael was fortunate to be the only brother passionate about coffee, so he was able to buy land from his brother and gradually expand his holdings. Since Misael bought a small piece of land from his half-brother in 1995, he has been a dedicated coffee farmer. As the years passed, Misael greatly improved the coffee quality through careful strategy and farm improvements. With the help of his family and his team, and through hard work and determination, his business grew rapidly. The name Divina Providencia translates to Divine Providence, inspired by the abundant wildlife on the farm. In addition to many types of trees and vegetation, you can also see squirrels and various bird species.

Misael Sauceda now enjoys considerable fame in Nicaragua. He has taken part in the Cup of Excellence there, winning top awards for 11 consecutive years: first place in 2005, fourth place in 2008, and second place in 2012. His coffee reflects his hard work and dedication to quality.

In his own words, Misael Sauceda Olivera's secret to producing the world's best coffee is "technical assistance in the coffee field, cutting ripe cherries, selecting mature cherries, proper pulping and 24-hour fermentation, using clean washing water, then transferring batches of wet parchment coffee to dry in the shade for proper drying."

The beans are of the Maragogype variety, a typical mutant variety of the plant, and the first variety in Brazil. This plant has huge leaves, large cherries, and enormous beans. The plant's size limits its ability to produce high yields, so it is not as profitable for farmers as some other varieties, but its yield is rare, and it tastes very good in this coffee.

Misael has earned a good reputation in the field for providing consistent quality, and his best CoE competition rankings were 1st place in 2005 and 2nd place in 2012. His success is largely attributed to very selective picking, motivating his harvesters to deliver only the highest-maturity cherries. Misael Sauceda's coffee has consistently been rated as Cup of Excellence International Selection. With funds gained from these successes, he has been able to improve his first farm - La Divina Providencia - Santa Maria de Guadalupe. Misael grows Caturra, Catuai, Maragogype, and Maracaturra varieties on his farm. All the coffee is grown under shade from canopies or native and fruit trees. His farm is located in Las Manos, Dipilto, at around 1400 meters elevation. The average annual temperature at this elevation ranges between 18 to 26°C. The Las Manos environment is perfect for growing coffee, especially suitable for delicate and refined coffee that often carries floral notes and rich sweetness and aroma.

Flavor Profile

Flavor: Pineapple, stone fruit, apricot, orange, plum, spiced orange, caramel, guarana, and green grapes.

Acidity: Apple, very juicy, tart, and citric acidity.

Body: Juicy body with Granny Smith apple.

Processing Method: Washed

Variety: Maragogype

FrontStreet Coffee's Recommended Brewing:

Dripper: Hario V60

Water Temperature: 88°C

Grind Size: Fuji Rancilio Mini grinder setting 4

Brewing Method: Water-to-coffee ratio 1:15, using 15 g of coffee grounds. First pour 25 g of water for a 25-second bloom. Second pour up to 120 g, then pause until the water level drops to half before continuing. Slowly pour water until reaching 225 g total. Extraction time around 2:00.

Analysis: Using a three-stage brewing method to clearly define the front, middle, and back-end flavors of the coffee.

FrontStreet Coffee Recommendation

If you enjoy the juicy, floral, fruit-forward character of a washed coffee like this Nicaraguan lot, FrontStreet Coffee roasts several pour-over-friendly single origins in a similar spirit. The FrontStreet Yirgacheffe Gudingding is a light roast that many drinkers treat as their first step into specialty coffee, with bright citrus, berry, and floral notes and a green-tea-like finish. For something more tropical, the FrontStreet Ethiopia Huakui is famous for its intense strawberry, passion fruit, jackfruit, and lychee aromas, with low bitterness and a smooth, juice-like body. The FrontStreet Kenya Little Tomato, a washed Kenyan coffee from the Sika growing region, brings cherry tomato and dark plum acidity with a full, syrupy mouthfeel. Each of these performs beautifully in the V60 method described above.