Roasted by Odd Kin in Bristol
Produced by Luis Alberto Balladarez in Nueva Segovia
Tasting Notes:
Chocolate sponge, double cream, black cherry
Process: Natural
Altitude: 1500 MASL
Varietal: Maracaturra
Brew: Espresso & Filter
Last year we brought you Nicaragua Mozonte, a seriously fruity and sweet natural coffee from Luis Alberto's farm in Nueva Segovia.
This year, we're kicking things off with a new Nicaraguan coffee from Luis - Mozonte 2.0!
Same farm, same producer, same processing method.
So what's changed?
Different varietal,
Very different results!
Luis Albeto’s coffees have always been next level, and we’re stoked to show you folk just what a huge impact coffee varietal can have on flavour.
With this Nicaraguan coffee, all processing variables and methods have been kept the same - quite literally the only thing different is the type of coffee plant and cherries used.
You’ve had the Pacamara, now it’s time to try the Maracaturra.
Moving away from the fruitiness of the Pacamara varietal, Mozonte 2.0 offers luxury chocolate and double cream flavours, rounded off by delightful notes of black cherry - seriously yum!
More about this coffee varietal:
After showcasing Pacamara, we really wanted to highlight the differences a change in varietal can make to the aromas and flavours of an otherwise identical coffee.
While our original Mozonte featured fruity flavours, 2.0 is characterised by rich chocolate notes which are typical of Maracaturra coffee.
Maracaturra coffee beans are commonly produced in Nicaragua, Brazil and El Salvador (less so).
Referred to as ‘the elephant bean’, both Maracaturra's beans and leaves are pretty large!
As they tend to be more susceptible to issues like coffee leaf rot, these beans require a lot of tender loving care.
But when given the right attention, these high yielding beans offer glorious results - placing 5th in the Cup of Excellence 2015 Awards.
Producer background:
Luis owns and manages several speciality coffee farms (fincas in Spanish) in the Diplito-Jalapa Mountain Range of Nicaragua.
‘Finca Un Regalo de Dios’ is referred to as Luis’ pride and joy.
Located in a lush pocket of forest shaded by mountainsides, this farm produces two Nicaraguan coffee varietals - Pacamara (our first Mozonte), and Maracaturra - a hybrid of the Maragogype and Caturra varieties.
Sharing a processing mill with neighbouring farm ‘La Esperenza’ (you may remember this coffee from a few months ago?), the farms are able to pool their resources and continually improve the quality of their coffee year upon year.
As the owner of the farms, Luis is the man bringing the energy to his operations. He focuses on providing opportunities for Nicaraguan coffee farmers, not only economically, but also in their day to day lives.
Because the farm is divided into different coffee microlots based on location and varietal, we get the opportunity to roast seriously high-quality Nicaraguan coffees for you guys to enjoy!
The coffee cherries grown in each lot are harvested by hand only once they’ve reached their perfect ripeness. Following this, the cherries are spread on raised African drying beds and fermented until they reach optimum moisture content.