Nicaragua Jinotega Marimba SHG/EP 2023

Nicaragua Marimba Green Coffee Beans

The marimba is Nicaragua’s national instrument. It’s particularly popular in the central and western parts of the country, like in the department of Jinotega, where this coffee was sourced from. The area is Nicaragua’s largest coffee region, and altitudes here range from 1,300-1,700masl. The soil is rich with clay and volcanic ash, with plenty of natural canopy to provide shade over the coffee trees.

Washed Process Green Coffee

In the “washed” or “wet” process, coffee cherries are floated and sorted to ensure consistent ripeness and to remove any defective cherries. The seeds (coffee beans) are then removed from their skins using depulping machines and typically moved to fermentation tanks to remove the mucilage—the remaining fruit remnants. Afterward, the coffee is dried until it reaches the optimal moisture level.

Washed processing has become widely popular. The cup profile of washed coffees tends to reflect the terroir of the coffee. The processing method allows the growing conditions, the region, and the true character of the coffee to shine through.

Nicaraguan Coffee Quality

A Strictly High Grown (SHG) coffee is grown at an altitude of 1,200 meters above sea level or higher. When coffee cherries grow at high altitudes, they tend to mature more slowly. This allows the fruit to take in more nutrients, resulting in denser, sweeter green coffee beans that are considered higher quality. Due to the longer maturation, harvesting, and production of SHG coffees generally occurs later in the season. During dry milling, this lot was further sorted to European Preparation (EP) specifications with a minimum screen size of 15 and above and a maximum of eight defects within 300 grams.

What does Nicaraguan coffee taste like?

Arabica varieties of Bourbon, Caturra, Maracaturra, and Pacamara are common in Nicaragua, as is washed processing. Though Nicaraguan beans showcase a diverse range of aromas and flavors, the general characteristics of Nicaraguan beans are notes of citrus, chocolate, or caramel, with floral or nutty tones and bright acidity.

This coffee from Jinotega is full of milk chocolate and roasted peanut flavors in the cup, accented by hints of citrus, a bright acidity, and a light body.

Raw Nicaraguan Coffee

Introduced to the country in the 1850s, coffee soon became Nicaragua’s primary export. However, decades of war, political unrest, embargoes, and hurricanes in the mid-to late-1900s dramatically weakened the country’s agricultural infrastructure, and Nicaraguan coffee production has fought to gain more stability in the subsequent years.

Today, coffee production generates over $500 million a year in exports, with an average of 2 million bags exported annually. There are more than 40,000 coffee producers in Nicaragua, 97% of which are smallholder farmers, and the coffee value chain employs over 330,000 people. Learn more in our Nicaraguan Green Coffee Report.