Nicaragua's tropical climate with high rainfall and mountainous areas is ideal for coffee plantations. Due to this, the beans have high quality and a rich bouquet.
Nicaraguan green coffee beans are characterized by a medium body, obvious sourness, balanced sweet profile, nut tones in the bouquet, notes of vanilla, caramel, chocolate, citrus.
Altitude: 1100 - 1600 meters above sea level.
Nicaraguan green coffee varieties of Arabica: Bourbon, Caturra, Pacamara, Maragogype, Maracaturra, Cutaui, Catimor.
Processing methods: dry, wet, honey (semi-dry, only the skin is removed from the fresh berry, and the flesh dries in the sun).
Beans produced:
2020 / 2.7 million bags (60 kg each)
World market share in kg (Arabica and Robusta):
1.6%
Coffee beans export revenue:
$496 million
Harvest:
November - March
Assortment of coffee beans from Nicaragua
Matagalpa and Jinotega are the two main coffee regions of Nicaragua. The farms are spread among world-famous reserves, such as Selva Negra, are located at an altitude of 800 to 1250 meters above sea level and produce more than 60% of all green coffee beans from Nicaragua. Most of these beans can be considered organic, but they do not have international bio- and organic certificates due to their value, which is too high for farmers in the poorest country in the region. In fact, farmers produce organic coffee because they are forced to save on chemical fertilizers, which are becoming more expensive every day.
The highlands of Nueva Segovia are located at the Honduras border and traditionally win most of the prizes in the Cup of Excellence. Favorable climate with high rainfall forms a bright enzyme profile in a cup with pronounced tartaric acidity.
In the 1980s, specialty coffee production began in Nicaragua's neighboring countries: Costa Rica, El Salvador and Guatemala. However, Nicaragua fell behind due to political and economic unrest during the long period of the revolution (1974 - 1990). In 1985, the United States imposed an embargo on imports from Nicaragua – another blow to the industry. Hurricane Mitch destroyed almost all infrastructure, and the global coffee crisis of 1999-2003 contributed to the deterioration in quality of the beans in all coffee-producing countries.
Finally, it is behind us, and Nicaraguan coffee occupie a worthy place among the producing countries in Central America and can offer unique taste profiles to buyers from around the world.
You can be interested also in sourcing green coffee beans from other regions, such as:
