Artisan Roast: Nicaragua, San Judas, Washed

Dipilto is a town synonymous with quality coffee in Nicaragua and the coffee from San Judas is a great example of why Dipilto has earned that reputation. Quality starts with excellent plant health and farms around the town commonly grow coffee under dense, lush shade vegetation, mimicking the environment coffee Arabica evolved in. This helps slow the ripening of the coffee down, encouraging improved sweetness and flavour profile once the beans have been roasted and brewed.

This approach to plant health and coffee quality is very true of San Judas, a farm bought by Norman Paguaga a couple of decades ago. He wanted to develop his own farm using the experience learned working on his parents coffee farm since the 1960s. A key part of his plan was to work with plants that produce higher quality. This has yielded results too, and Norman has twice placed in the Nicaragua Cup of Excellence.

This selection from the farm is mostly made up of Caturra, along with a smaller amount of Catuai,and Catimor. We've roasted the coffee lighter to focus on the classic Dipilto cup profile of caramels and white fruits. Sweet toffee like flavours work in harmony with notes of red apple, white grape and orange citrus which are present on a clean and persistent aftertaste. Underneath the mouthfeel is smooth, creamy and refined, enhanced by a further flavour of milk chocolate acting as a perfectly balanced counterpoint to the medium intensity acidity which lingers long.