Nicaragua Coffee Regions Introduction, Flavor Characteristics | Roasting and Brewing Recommendations

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The first time I tasted Nicaraguan coffee was a black honey processed variety from the Nueva Segovia processing plant. This coffee features spice and herbal aromas, with notes of dried fruit, genmaicha, subtle apple acidity, and caramel sweetness, followed by almond and berry aftertaste. Unlike Costa Rican black honey coffee, Nicaraguan black honey doesn't have a strong fermented flavor but instead offers a delicate fragrance and smooth mouthfeel. This sparked my great interest in Nicaragua, and I decided to write about Nicaraguan coffee.

Overview

When it comes to Nicaragua, its most famous attraction might be its grand waterfalls, while Nicaraguan coffee seems to have been forgotten in the world in recent years, rarely seen on the market. In fact, Nicaragua's growing conditions are no less favorable than those of Central American countries. The coffee produced there is characterized by its balanced flavor profile. What's surprising is that smallholder-produced coffee, when lightly roasted, exhibits the clean brightness of Costa Rican coffee with delicate, soft acidity, while dark roasting reveals the sweet richness and mellow intensity of Colombian coffee. In this installment of our World Coffee Regions Tour, I'll introduce everyone to Nicaragua.

Geography and Climate

Nicaragua is located in central Central America, bordered by Honduras to the north, Costa Rica to the south, the Caribbean Sea to the east, and the Pacific Ocean to the west. With a total area of 130,400 square kilometers, it is the largest country in Central America. The north-central part of Nicaragua consists of highlands; the eastern region features coastal plains with numerous jungle swamps and low, flat terrain; the western region comprises coastal lowlands with many volcanoes and lakes to the east.

Nicaragua's plains have high temperatures and abundant rainfall, featuring a tropical maritime climate. The western coastal lowlands receive significantly less precipitation than the eastern region and have distinct dry and wet seasons, classified as a tropical savanna climate. The central highlands have an average annual temperature of 18°C and annual precipitation of 1500-2500mm, with the rainy season lasting from May to December.

Main Growing Regions and Harvest Seasons

Nicaragua is mainly divided into four major growing regions: the Segovias region, the Matagalpa/Jinotega region, the Boaco region, and the Pacific Coast region.

Here are introductions to some of the more famous regions:

Jinotega

This region and its capital both derive their name from the Nahuatl word "xinotencatl," meaning "city of old people." The region's economy has long depended on coffee, and it is also Nicaragua's main growing region.

Altitude: 1100-1700 meters

Harvest Period: December to March of the following year

Main Varieties: Caturra, Bourbon

Matagalpa

This is another region named after its capital city. Within its territory, there is a coffee-themed museum, and coffee comes from estates and cooperatives.

Altitude: 1100-1400 meters

Harvest Period: December to February of the following year

Main Varieties: Caturra, Bourbon

Nueva Segovia

This region is located on Nicaragua's northern border and has recently begun to establish the reputation for producing the finest coffee in the country, achieving great success in the Cup of Excellence competition in Nicaragua.

Altitude: 1100-1650 meters

Harvest Period: December to March of the following year

Main Varieties: Caturra, Catuai, Bourbon

Coffee Flavor Characteristics

Nicaraguan coffee aromas are slightly different from the uplifting aromas typical of Central America, being more subdued.

The flavors are generally quite complex, soft, with creamy, chocolate, fruit, and nutty notes. The acidity is pure and pleasant.

Grading

Nicaraguan coffee is graded according to growing altitude:

Strictly High Grown (SHG): 1500-2000m

High Grown (HG): 1300-1500m

Medium Grown (MG): 1000-1300m

Low Grown (LG): 500-1000m

Brief History of Coffee Development

Between 1840-1940, Nicaragua experienced a "coffee boom" as coffee became the country's main export crop. Under strong government promotion, foreign companies could easily invest or acquire land, leading to the birth of large estates. Later, the dictator Somoza established coffee cooperatives (1936-1979), but they were soon overthrown by the Sandinista National Liberation Front. In 1979, Nicaragua entered communist rule, making coffee trade extremely difficult. The CIA began supporting the Contras rebels in an attempt to overthrow the new regime. To gain greater benefits, they attacked coffee workers' vehicles, destroyed processing plants, and created chaos, which was another major blow to Nicaraguan coffee. Despite this, coffee remained Nicaragua's most important export economic crop. After the 20th century, it experienced sharp declines in coffee prices (1999-2003), hurricanes, and the millennium drought. Today, Nicaragua has about 40,000 coffee farmers. Due to funding shortages for fertilizers, most coffee trees are grown organically. Coffee farmers have begun to focus on quality and value production traceability ("production traceability" means coffee can be traced back to single estates or cooperatives formed by producers). Nicaragua's coffee industry shows signs of gradual revival.

Elephant Beans and Derived Varieties

Maragogipe

Nicaraguan coffee beans are among the largest of all coffee beans, with the Maragogipe giant beans from the Matagalpa region being the most distinctive. These giant beans are larger than regular coffee beans and are also known as elephant beans, belonging to the Arabica natural mutation variety. Depending on soil growing conditions, Maragogipe flavors can vary, and poor soil can weaken the coffee's taste. This is why it's often called "not very flavorful" coffee. In the coffee world, Maragogipe is not a very common variety due to its low yield, making it highly cherished by coffee enthusiasts.

Maracaturra

This variety comes from a cross between elephant beans and Caturra, combining the full body of the former with the sweet flavor of the latter, and is commonly found in Nicaragua. Like elephant beans, Maracaturra coffee beans are very large. Unfortunately, this variety is highly susceptible to leaf rust disease, requiring extensive care. Its flavor features tropical fruit and bright acidity.

Pacamara

Pacamara is a hybrid variety artificially cultivated in El Salvador in 1958, with Pacas and elephant beans as parents. The most distinctive feature of this variety is its lively acidity, sometimes with biscuit aromas, sometimes fruity notes, and excellent body and oiliness.

Roasting and Brewing

General Nicaraguan bean varieties can be roasted using conventional methods. Medium to light roasting often reveal nutty flavors similar to almonds and walnuts, with good sweetness, clean and refreshing acidity, and aftertaste with plum-like aromas.

However, elephant beans and their derived varieties have especially large bean sizes, and combined with high altitude, the bean density is high, making heat absorption slower during roasting. To ensure full heat penetration, the dehydration process needs to be extended. To highlight the pleasant acidity of high-altitude coffee, after the beans turn yellow, you can choose to increase the heat, which helps enhance the Maillard reaction to create multi-layered flavors and reduce moisture loss for smooth first crack development.

Recommended Pour-over Parameters

Beans Used: Nicaragua [Meijing Estate] Maracaturra, Washed

Grind Size: BG grinder 5R (Chinese standard 20-mesh sieve pass rate 64%)

V60 Dripper: 16g coffee, water temperature 90-91°C, water-to-coffee ratio 1:15/16 (adjustable according to concentration preference), total brewing time: 2 minutes 15 seconds.

First, use 30g of water for blooming, allowing the coffee grounds to degas and absorb water. Bloom for about 30 seconds. When you observe the surface starting to show a "matte finish," that's the time to begin water extraction.

For the first pour, extract evenly around the center in a coin-sized circle until reaching about 160g, then stop and let the water level drop by 1/2. For the second pour, slowly add water to 260g, being careful not to pour onto the filter paper edge.

Flavor Characteristics: This coffee has a deep aroma, with flavors similar to dried papaya and dried lemon at entry. The mid-palate reveals almond, caramel, and cocoa flavors, with a strong aftertaste and long-lasting licorice and dried plum notes. Overall, this coffee has quite a special flavor profile. If you're used to coffees from other Central American countries, try a cup of Nicaraguan coffee - it will definitely give you a different experience~

FrontStreet Coffee: A roastery in Guangzhou with a small shop but diverse bean varieties, where you can find both famous and lesser-known beans. They also provide online store services. https://shop104210103.taobao.com

Important Notice :

前街咖啡 FrontStreet Coffee has moved to new addredd:

FrontStreet Coffee Address: 315,Donghua East Road,GuangZhou

Tel:020 38364473