Nicaragua | 2018 COE 5th Place | Un Regalo de Dios. A Gift from God Estate

FrontStreet Coffee Premium Selection

Nicaragua Un Regalo de Dios — "A Gift from God" Estate (Cup of Excellence winner, 2018, 5th place)

Variety: Pacamara

Grade: Strictly Hard Bean (S.H.B. EP) — premium high-altitude hard bean

AA PREMIUM SPECIALTY GREEN COFFEE

Altitude: 1800 meters above sea level

Processing method: honey process (Miel), natural sun-drying on African beds

Cultivated area: 22 hectares

Cupping Notes

Toffee, lemon, dried longan, coffee blossom, cedar. This honey-processed Pacamara has a sweet-and-sour aftertaste and a particularly prominent sugarcane aroma once it cools, with a rich, lingering finish.

About the Pacamara Variety

Pacamara is a rare and precious variety developed in El Salvador. Its flavor is full-bodied and unusually diverse, spanning apricot, vanilla, botanical notes, tropical fruit, chocolate and a spicy sweetness. Few varieties can offer both bright fruit acidity and rich sweetness at once — but like other large-bean varieties, it yields relatively little. The name Pacamara comes from Maragogype and Pacas, taking the first four letters of each. Its bean size is comparable to Maragogype, reaching up to 22 screen size, which makes it one of the best varieties in Central and South America. Nicaraguan farmers rarely cultivate Pacamara, so lots that cup this well are especially precious.

About the Honey Process (Procesado Full Miel)

After the cherry skin is removed, 100% of the mucilage layer is left intact. Unlike the fully washed method, the honey process does not use fermentation to break the mucilage down — the beans go straight onto raised African beds to dry with the mucilage still attached. During drying they must be turned frequently to prevent the pulp from sticking, which can cause mold or over-fermentation, and to ensure even sun exposure. Sun and wind do the drying; afterward the mucilage layer and parchment are removed directly. Compared with other methods, this takes more labor and more time.

What Honey Processing Brings

The advantage is that it preserves the fruit's original sweetness better than almost anything else, giving the cup a honeyed sweetness and a fuller body.

FrontStreet Coffee Recommendation

Honey processing is one of the most rewarding ways to drink coffee, and FrontStreet Coffee's honey-processed lineup shows the full range of the method. Our Costa Rica Blackberry uses a distinctive black honey process in which almost no mucilage is removed, so drying takes at least two weeks under shade cloth that keeps the sun from drying the fruit too quickly — this lets the sugars convert fully. The beds are turned at intervals to avoid uneven heat and over-fermentation. After a medium-light roast, the ground coffee releases a rich floral aroma, and the cup shows grape, berry and ripe blackberry flavors.

If you like the fruitier end, our Mozart is made with a raisin honey process, an inventive variation that dries the whole cherry on raised beds for at least three days before the skin and pulp are removed and the honey steps continue. Keeping 100% of the pectin makes it harder to control than black honey, since timing has to be managed precisely. The reward is a deeper, sweeter dried-fruit character — a pour-over, cold brew or moka pot all deliver its signature osmanthus, pineapple and raisin aromas.

And for a honey-processed coffee blended with Geisha, try our Strawberry Candy. It pairs a Panamanian Geisha with a Costa Rican coffee processed with raisin honey, retaining 100% of the mucilage with no water used at all. The cherries are sorted in a water tank, with under-ripe and over-ripe fruit floated off, then dried on raised beds for at least three days before the skin is removed and the honeys are dried with constant turning for evenness. The result is the floral-tea character of Geisha alongside grape and raisin notes, a soft fruit acidity, an almond finish and obvious sweetness.