No Elephant Dung Coffee in Nicaragua! Introduction to Nicaraguan Coffee Origins

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Overview

When mentioning Nicaragua, the most famous feature is probably its great waterfall. However, Nicaraguan coffee seems to have been forgotten in the world in recent years, as Nicaraguan coffee is rarely seen. In fact, Nicaragua's growing conditions are no less favorable than those of other Central American countries. The coffee produced there is characterized by its balanced flavor profile. Surprisingly, coffee produced by small farmers, when lightly roasted, exhibits a clean and bright character similar to Costa Rican coffee, with delicate and gentle acidity. When dark roasted, it reveals the sweet, thick, mellow, and rich taste characteristic of Colombian coffee. In this world coffee region tour, we will introduce Nicaragua to you.

Geography and Climate

Nicaragua is located in the central part of 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 part is coastal plains with dense jungles and swamps, featuring low and flat terrain; the western part consists of coastal lowlands with numerous volcanoes and lakes to the east.

The plains of Nicaragua 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 growing regions: Segovias, Matagalpa/Jinotega, Boaco, and Pacific Coast.

Introduction to more famous regions:

Jinotega

This region and its capital city both derive their names from the Nahuatl word "xinotencatl," meaning "city of old people." The region's economy has long been dependent on coffee, making it one of Nicaragua's main growing regions.

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, with coffee sourced from estates and cooperatives.

Altitude: 1100~1400 meters

Harvest period: December to February of the following year

Main varieties: Caturra, Bourbon

Nueva Segovias

This region is located on Nicaragua's northern border and has recently begun establishing a reputation for producing some of the country's finest coffee. It has also achieved 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

FrontStreet Coffee's Nicaraguan coffee has a slightly different aroma from the bright aromas typically found in Central American coffees, with a more subdued fragrance.

The flavor profile is often quite complex, soft, with creamy, chocolate, fruit, and nut flavors. 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 its "coffee boom" as coffee began to become the country's main export crop. With 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, attempting 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 Nicaragua's coffee industry. Despite this, coffee remained Nicaragua's most important export economic crop. After the 20th century, it experienced sharp drops in coffee prices (1999-2003) as well as hurricanes and the millennium drought. Today, Nicaragua has about 40,000 coffee farmers. Due to shortage of funds 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 a single estate or cooperative formed by producers). There are signs of gradual revival in Nicaragua's coffee industry.

Elephant Beans and Derived Varieties

Maragogipe

Nicaraguan coffee beans are considered relatively large among all coffee beans, with the Maragogipe giant beans from the Matagalpa region being particularly 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, the flavor of Maragogipe can vary, and poor soil can weaken the coffee's taste. This is why it is often called "flavorless" 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, possessing both the full body of the former and the sweet flavor of the latter, commonly found in Nicaragua. Like elephant beans, Maracaturra coffee beans have a very large size. Unfortunately, this variety is highly susceptible to leaf rust disease and therefore requires high maintenance. Its flavor features tropical fruits and bright acidity.

Pacamara

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

Roasting and Brewing

General Nicaraguan bean varieties can be roasted using conventional methods. When using medium to light roasting, nut flavors similar to almonds and walnuts often appear, with good sweetness, clean and refreshing acidity, and a finish with plum-like aroma.

Elephant beans and their derived varieties have particularly large bean sizes, and combined with high altitude, the beans have high density and absorb heat more slowly during the roasting process. To allow heat to fully penetrate, the dehydration process needs to be extended. To highlight the pleasant acidity of high-altitude coffee, after the yellowing stage, increasing heat can help enhance the Maillard reaction to create multi-layered flavors and reduce moisture loss for a smooth first crack.

Recommended Pour-over Parameters

Beans used this time: FrontStreet Coffee's Nicaraguan [FrontStreet Coffee Beauty Estate] Maracaturra, washed

Grind size: BG grinder 5R (China standard #20 sieve pass rate 64%)

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

First, use 30g of water for blooming, allowing the coffee grounds to release gas and absorb water. Bloom time is about 30 seconds. When you observe the surface starting to show a "matte" appearance, it's time to pour water for extraction.

For the first pour, extract evenly around the center in a coin-sized pattern until reaching 160g, then 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 FrontStreet Coffee's Nicaraguan Beauty Estate Maracaturra coffee has a deep aroma, with dried papaya and dried lemon fragrance at entry. The mid-palate displays almond, caramel, and cocoa flavors, with a strong aftertaste and a long-lasting licorice and dried plum finish.

Related recommendations: Is pour-over coffee really delicious? Why does coffee smell more fragrant than it tastes?

Important Notice :

前街咖啡 FrontStreet Coffee has moved to new addredd:

FrontStreet Coffee Address: 315,Donghua East Road,GuangZhou

Tel:020 38364473