Artisan Roast: Nicaragua, El Volcan Mountain, Washed

Across the world Maracaturra is not widely grown by coffee producers but in the cool, high altitude mountains of Nuevo Segovia that skirt the border with Honduras it remains a well-regarded and often planted tree. Dense, lush shade vegetation is typical in the area and this helps the distinctive large coffee fruit of Maracaturra, resulting from the Maragogipe lineage in the cultivar, ripen slower. This is crucial for mammoth beans like these because it encourages a more solid bean, improved sweetness, and unique flavours once the beans have been roasted and brewed.

This micro-lot comes from a handful of small holders whose farms surround the mountain of El Volcan. In years gone by the small holders would sell their coffee to be part of larger bulked coffees but this coffee comes from a project helping to give these smaller farmers more visibility. Every micro-lot records the families that contribute and, in this instance, the extra care over longer fermentation in processing. This fermentation builds more complexity in flavour, elevates the coffee to the next level and the resulting coffee represents Dipilto so well.