About This Coffee
Enrique Ferrufino, a surgeon by trade, was born and raised on a coffee farm in the mountains of Matagalpa. Together with his wife Silvia, a pediatrician, the Ferrufino family decided to go into the coffee business in 1992 and bought Finca Aurora in 2004. They inspired in their three children a love for coffee from a very early age. Since they acquired Finca Aurora, the whole family has worked together to produce great coffee.
One of the core values of their business is to inspire people through coffee. Throughout the years they have invested in providing workers with fair wages, safe living conditions, health services, food and education. They also work with smaller producers in the area to help them improve their farming practices.
Bonanza is one of the larger volume lines for the farm. These washed coffees can be used on its own or as a rich blending base. The abundance of flavors and aromas that characterize the Central American profiles shine through this line and these coffees are the perfect match for those constantly looking for balanced acidity and consistent quality at the most competitive prices. To top it off, this coffee comes with Rainforest Alliance Certification, ensuring it has been produced using sustainable methods.
Cultivation
Preserving nature is a top priority for the Ferrufino family. They only use renewable energy and work diligently on conserving water resources and natural habitats. The farm houses a variety of native trees, home to many species of birds and wildlife. These trees also provide the plantation with shade and fertilize the soils with organic matter, which protects the land from erosion, droughts and floods
Harvest & Post-Harvest
Immediately after selective hand harvesting, cherries are delivered to the pulping station. Here they are floated to remove any underripes or damaged beans before being pulped and then fermented in open tanks for 36 hours. After fermentation is complete, the coffee is floated again, washed with clean water and delivered to dry on patios for 12 days. After reaching optimal moisture levels, the parchment is rested for 10 weeks before hulling. Green coffee is stored in Ecotact bags to preserve its qualities.
Finca Aurora is one of the first farms in Nicaragua with a fully integrated coffee operation on-site. They produce, wash and dry the coffee at the farm. The coffee is milled, sorted and bagged at Beneficio Finca Aurora under the watchful eye of the farm’s team. This allows full control over the quality throughout the process.
Rainforest Alliance
RFA stands for Rainforest Alliance, a certification system that emphasizes climate-smart agriculture. RFA farms have at least 40% of land covered by canopy, significant species diversity (at least 12 native tree species per hectare, on average) and a system of natural vegetation buffers between agricultural land and bodies of water. The farms also use organic fertilizers.
SHG
Strictly High Grown (SHG) specifies the altitude at which the coffee was grown. A coffee must be grown at 1,200 meters above sea level or higher to be considered SHG. The higher altitude and lower temperatures mean that the coffee fruit matures more slowly, creating a denser bean.
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.