This velvety quaff comes from Finca Bethania, a coffee agroforestry farm run by sisters Martha and Ana in the heart of Nicaragua. We're big fans of chocolately fruity coffees around here and also love to support women producers, so this lot was a no-brainer for us. It seriously tastes like chocolate-covered strawberries and we want to drink it every day.
Finca Bethania has been managed by sisters Martha and Ana since 2013, when they inherited the farm from their father. At the time, the farm was mostly planted with Catimor, chosen for its high yields. The sisters shifted the focus toward quality and gradually replanted with varieties like Catuai, Parainema, Maracaturra, Gesha, and Java. It's now a 60-hectare farm with a 10-hectare forest reserve. The remaining 50 hectares are planted with a variety of crops, including coffee, guava, bucar, plantain, banana, and citrus.
In addition to their farms, Martha and Ana Albir founded Cafetos de Segovia in 2015, a coffee exporter and mill based in Ocotal, Nueva Segovia, their hometown. The sisters had fled Nicaragua during the civil war in 1977 and settled abroad, but they never forgot their homeland. In 2013, their father passed down his two coffee farms to them: Bethania and Hortensias. Soon after, they decided to open a processing center and start an export business to bring their coffee to market, and that’s how Cafetos de Segovia was born. Today, the mill employs seven full-time local staff and up to 60 seasonal workers during the harvest. The business gives the sisters a meaningful reason to return to Nicaragua each year — to reconnect with their family, enjoy their culture, grow their own coffee, and support better economic opportunities for coffee growers in their region.
This lot was picked, floated, let to ferment anaerobically for 48 hours, and dried slowly on raised beds for three to four weeks.
Elevation: 1200-1500 Metres Above Sea Level
Varietal: Catuai
Cup Score: 87
Price paid per kg: £11.90
Process: Natural
