Thumbnail Filmstrip of Nicaragua Maritza & Francisco Carbonic Maceration Natural Images

About Nicaragua Maritza & Francisco Carbonic Maceration Natural

Arrived September 2024, new crop, packed in vacuum sealed bags within handmade, painted mahogany boxes that each held about 75 pounds. A beautiful presentation of the coffee waiting within. Supply is very limited.

Maritza & Francisco are a Nicaraguan couple who produce a number of varieties on their farm. Each of them own their own separate plots of land, somewhat rare for a farming couple in this part of the coffee world. While they do much of the work together, much of the farming and early production chores are Maritza's while some of the more rugged work, like hauling sacks, falls to Francisco. The jointly donated some of their land for the construction of a church which now abuts their farms. Both take a great deal of pride in their work.

Maria Maritza tending to her coffee trees

This coffee lot is made of several varieties including Catuai, Caturra and Bourbon. But of particular note here is the processing technique, which needed to be carried out on nearby Finca Idealista, owned by the growers association. This was necessary due to the complexity of the process - Carbonic Maceration. Whole coffee cherries are twice fermented in a tank, which is outfitted with air traps and spigots. During the first fermentation coffee cherries are kept for some days without air or water; the air traps are used to remove oxygen. The second fermentation is with pure mountain water but again with no air. Carbon dioxide is introduced to add internal agitation as well as being part of the complex changes taking place during the cherries maceration. Fermentation ends when coffee has reached a precise Ph (acidity level) and Brix measurements are also taken to assure sweetness. In total, over 175 hours, a little more than 7 days passed before the fermentation was deemed to be complete. This was followed by drying the complete, now fully fermented cherries on raised beds for a period of slightly more than a month before it dried to its target humidity.

Country: Nicaragua
Region: Jinotega
Producers: Maria Maritza & Francisco Sanchez
Farm: Santa Teresita & Los Nogales
Altitude: 1325 meters
Coffee Varieties: Red Catuai, Red and Yellow Caturra, Bourbon
Processing: Natural, with Carbon Maceration
Drying: Raised beds approximately 1 month

We purchased this coffee from an exporter who works on the ground in Nicaragua. Gold Mountain Coffee Growers is a social enterprise that, in addition to its own farm (Finca Idealista), works directly with coffee producers in Nicaragua, including Maritza and Francisco, to connect them with roasters abroad. They say they literally stand on every partner farm during picking to ensure ripeness with refractometers and ripeness bracelets. In addition, they also carry out sustainable development projects in communities, such as free computing classes for girls from coffee communities, medical assistance, microcredit, running water in schools, and educational supplies.

Don Javier Francisco Sanchez at a washing

Cup Characteristics: Notably sweet and complex with notes of marshmallow, plum, white grape, rum, cherry. Pipe tobacco aroma. Fruity Natural processed coffee with additional tropical fruit notes from its carbonic maceration fermentation.

Roasting Notes: Allow 90 seconds or more of development time to bring out the fruit from the carbonic maceration process. The roast will run a little quicker as do most Naturals.