About this coffee:
Finca El Jaguar and Wildlife Reserve is an emblematic producer of specialty coffee with a focus on both quality and sustainability. The farm is a family-operated farm located in the Isabelia mountain range in Jinotega, Nicaragua. In the early 1990s, conservationists, bird researchers and coffee lovers Liliana Chavarría and Georges Duriaux founded the farm with the goal of integrating sustainable coffee production with environmental conservation. The farm extends over 50 hectares of Rainforest Alliance-certified agroforestry at an elevation of 1,300 to 1,400 meters above sea level. The surrounding area of 110 hectares is cloud forest under conservation. The farm is renowned for its commitment to preserving biodiversity, hosting 383 bird species (50% of Nicaraguan bird species) and supporting extensive environmental education and reforestation projects in surrounding communities.
Cultivation:
The farm primarily grows red and yellow Catuaí, Java, Maracaturra, Casiopea (H8), and H3 varieties.
Maracaturra is a hybrid coffee variety known for the large size of its beans, inherited from Maragogype, and its complex flavors, derived from its Caturra parent, with distinguished bright acidity and delicious tropical fruit notes.
El Jaguar implements various sustainable farming techniques, such as using a nursery system with grafting methods to improve plant production and disease resistance. The farm also utilizes compost made from post-harvest pulp, eliminating the need for chemical fertilizers. The presence of trees on the farm provides numerous ecosystem services, including microclimate regulation, pollination, and biological pest control, all contributing to the farm's sustainability and productivity.
Harvest & Post-harvest:
El Jaguar uses eco-friendly practices throughout its coffee production process. Ripe cherry is selectively harvested and processed in an ecological mill that reduces water contamination by 50%. After pulping, cherry is fermented and washed in clean water. The parchment is then dried, milled, packaged, and prepared for export at Fincas Miershc (Beneficio Don Esteban).
About Maracaturra:
Maracaturra is a cross between Maragogype and Caturra. It is a high-yielding variety from Brazil. It was the result of a naturally occurring cross between the 2 varieties in the 1800s. Now, it is mainly found in Brazil, El Salvador and Nicaragua. The trees are short with verdant foliage that protects them from wind damage. They are high-yielding and can be planted closely together.
Coffee in Nicaragua:
Nicaragua may not be the most famous producer of Central American coffee, but it has great potential. The country is known as the land of ‘los lagos y los volcanes’ (lakes and volcanos) and has many coffee growing ‘pockets’ that few have heard of or experienced. Many producers in the country are experimenting with new varieties and processing methods, making it a specialty origin to watch.
Many coffee producers in Nicaragua today are buoyed by cooperatives that provide a wide array of services, supports and opportunity. As seen in the win of the ‘El Acuerdo de las Tunas’, where 3,000 landless workers won land rights, collective action by farmers can be far more effective at enacting widespread change than the advocacy of individual farmers.
Cooperatives and farmer associations in Nicaragua encompass a large percentage of the country’s coffee producers, and they are taking their destiny in their own hands. By putting great emphasis on quality and by aiming for the international specialty coffee industry, cooperatives and farmers associations are helping their members gain influence and import that will, hopefully, garner enough profit to enable farmers to continue to improve and invest in their farms and their families.
Large and medium-sized (10+ hectare) farms also hold a significant place in Nicaragua’s coffee landscape, as well. Many of these farms have also prioritized social and environmental issues and are working on quality improvements at both cultivation and post-harvest levels.
Farmers, for the most part, will process coffee on their own farms, and the majority of the time coffee is dried on large drying patios under sun.
