Nicaragua Honey Process Maracaturra

Regular price $9.45
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We found this honey lot shows very well in middle and darker roasts, where syrupy body gives way to bittersweet profiles, like black cocoa and dark chocolate wafers, accented by hints of fruit and spice. City+ to Full City+.

Total Score: 87.4
Weight *: 1 LB
Product Overview
Full Cupping Notes

In the fragrance, we noted a scent of baked goods like brown sugar cookie and banana bread with walnut, while our darker Full City roast brought out very nice bittersweet intensity, dark cocoa laced with molasses. The wet aroma dials up the honey sweetness, and the crust has a smell of cinnamon-spiced honey sticks, along with cocoa crinkle cookie. We found this honey lot shows very well in middle, and even darker roasts, where syrupy body gives way to bittersweet profiles and hints of fruit and spice. The lighter roasts reveal accents of dried peach, and an interesting dark spice/fruit flavor when the coffee is hot that brought to mind Dr. Pepper soda (prune?). The cup cools to tea-tightening aspects, a bit like orange rind bittering too, though it's sweetness that leaves its mark in the finish. My Full City roast had excellent body, weighty and heavy on the palate, underscoring some of the deeper roast-toned flavors, black cocoa, and dark chocolate baking wafers. We don't typically recommend roasting Maracaturra's dark, but this coffee has more roast versatility than the washed lots in that regard. Honey coffees also produce a lot more chaff than a wet process, and presents darker in color due to the thin layer of fruit that is dried to the seed in the honey process. Something to be mindful of when roasting.

COFFEE DETAILS
process methodHoney Process
cultivarModern Hybrids
farm gateYes
Farm Notes

Origin & Farm Notes

Honey processing is achieved using mechanical demucilage machine that remove the coffee cherry but leave some of the fruit intact on the seed. The coffee is dried with this fruit still intact, and typically evidenced in the cup via fruited flavor aspects, body, and often muted acidity in comparison to full washed coffee. I cup tested several Maracaturra lots on my visit to Buenos Aires last March, and would up buying full washed, dry process, and honey process offers as I found the cup profiles to be uniquely different. The Maracaturra cultivar is a large bean variety of coffee, a cross between Caturra and the so-called "Elephant Bean", Maragogype. It seems to be grown mostly in Nicaragua although we've found nice examples in El Salvador too. Buenos Aires is a rather low farm compared to other origins we buy, with this lot coming from about 1200 meters. Maracturra can be tricky to roast due to the enormous bean size. If you have the ability to control heat on your roaster, try a "slow and low" approach, dragging out the beginning roast leg before 1st crack in order to produce roast consistency from the inside out. For those without heat control (a popcorn popper for example), take the roast to at least City+ based on the beans exterior which will ensure internal roast development is achieved and save you from the green/grassy notes that come from underdevelopment!

Specs

Technical Specifications

Key specifications and operating details for this product.

region Dipilto, Nueva Segovia
processing Honey Process
drying method Raised Bed Sun-Dried
arrival date Aug 2025
lot size 20
bag size 69 KG
packaging GrainPro Liner
farm gate Yes
cultivar detail Maracaturra
grade SHG
appearance .5 d/300gr 18+ screen
roast recommendations City+ to Full City+
type Farm Gate
recommended espresso No
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