Pacamara in itself is an oddity ... this large bean is grown on few farms since the requirements to process it, and tolerance for this low-yield cultivar are both rare. But here is something truly more strange: Pacamara that has been dry-processed in the tradition of Ethiopia Harar or Sidamo coffees. Pacamara is a distinct cultivar of Arabica coffee, more specifically it is a subtype of the large bean Maragogype and Pacas, a natural hybrid from El Salvador. Maragogype is called the "elephant bean" for its incredibly large size, and is a spontaneous variation of Typica. Now, bean size per se has nothing to do with cup quality: a bigger seed doesn't make a better cup. But the argument for Maragogype and Pacamara is that the tree produces fewer cherries and flavor is more concentrated. I have tasted some very bland Pacamara that was lower grown, so this isn't always true. And hey, once you grind it up it all looks the same! On the other hand I have had some coffees that had outstanding cup qualities, surpassed all the rival samples in blind cupping, and just happened to be Pacamara. Pacamara coffees are often pooled from a small region of growers, since each independently would not have enough to form a lot. So in a sense, these are like pearls in a bed of oysters, and even in local markets of coffee-producing areas they sell for 3x to 4x the going price. We know this producer knows their Pacamaras, which helps since those who don't can nick them in the milling process, or fail to wet-process them correctly. That's a moot point here: This is our second year offering full natural, dry-process pacamara microlot and the results are quite outrageous. It's like the rustic, fruitier sibling to a Gesha coffee. The dry fragrance is intensely fruited as you might suspect. Don't think Nicaragua, think Harar. There is mango, honeydew melon, and a sorta general fruit punch scent here, as well as in the wet aromatics. The cup is a fruit explosion: papaya in particular. There's an intense chocolate as well at FC+ roast, as well as pungent spice and tobacco in the finish. There's also quite a bit of fruited brandy flavor, dried apricot, and all the other fruits found in the aromatics! The acidity is fairly low, but more than you might find in other dry-process coffees. It is hard to score such a non-traditional coffee such as this ... it doesn't conform to standards for Nicaragua coffees. It's edgy, weird ... but I feel it is not so over the top as to be fermenty or gross in the slightest! And those who love fruit bomb coffees, intense DP Ethiopia or Yemen lots, should love this special coffee. Darker roasts develop more chocolate roast notes, and it had an intense dark fruit character up front, plum, pepper pungency, syrupy sweet notes.

This coffee is part of our direct trade Farm Gate pricing transparency program.

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Mama Mina is a farm in Matagalpa that was called La Minita for years ... but alas that name is already taken in the world of coffee by the very famous Costa Rica farm. The name is in honor of grandma Mina McEwan of the Mierisch family, who own the farm (as well as the Finca San Jose Java coffee we offer). The farm is ensconced in beautiful forest in all directions, and ranges from 1250 - 1400 meters. They keep the shade trees on the farm well-trimmed because cloud cover in the area makes for a rather moist micro-climate, and deprives the coffee trees of some needed sun. The farm is planted mostly in Caturra cultivar, with some Catuai as well. This was actually a small lot that they were planning to submit to the coffee competition, but because Erwin Mierisch works for the Cup of Excellence, they decided to avoid conflict and offer it to me. We offered a good price, above the normal Mama Mina price, because it was a specially selected lot. I have cupped Mama Mina in the past, but never had a cup quite like this before. Everything about this coffee says "classic Central America cup character" to me. This is not a flashy cup, but as a Nicaragua with this well-structured, balanced flavor profile, it is indeed a rare thing. The dry fragrance has ample sweetness, cane sugar notes, mild floral and fruit hints. The wet fragrance has a real bloom of floral and fruited (strawberry) sweetness, but not fruity like a dry-process coffee at all. Lighter roasts have pear fruit notes, caramel sweetness, with a moderate acidity that gives it definite "spine", and attractive, syrupy body. It's an approachable flavor profile, not screaming bright, rather restrained in fact. The sweetness and sense of a "complete" cup, are both clear in this coffee. It holds up well to darker roast treatments, with a more sweetly resinous flavor emerging, slightly piney, rounded mouthfeel, but a little thinner in the aftertaste. Overall, it's a quality of cup that is rarer in Nicaragua than you might think, something more akin to a classic top-notch Guatemala than other Nica coffees.

This coffee is part of our direct trade Farm Gate pricing transparency program.

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