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. 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.
Cultivation
Jinotega, located in the northern part of Nicaragua is one of the primary coffee-growing regions of the country. The favorable climate and the rich volcanic soil contribute to the unique flavor profiles of the coffees, characterized by smooth body and notes of chocolate, tropical fruit and floral undertones. Finca El Jaguar primarily grows red and yellow Catuaí, Java, Maracaturra, Casiopea (H8), and H3 coffee varieties.
The H3 coffee variety is a first-generation (F1) hybrid created from a cross between Caturra and an Ethiopian landrace from the CATIE collection. Developed by a consortium including CIRAD, PROMECAFE, and CATIE, H3 showed very good cup quality at elevation above 1,300 meters. F1 hybrids in Central America aim to increase genetic diversity, enhancing hybrid vigor for high yields, frost tolerance, and maintaining cup quality and disease resistance. F1 hybrids are relatively new, with only a few varieties available commercially in the past decade.
Harvest & Post-Harvest
Ripe cherry is selectively handpicked and floated to remove any damaged or unripe fruit. After intake, cherry is placed in 200-liter barrels for fermentation, which lasts 85 to 120 hours depending on the temperature. Following fermentation, cherry is transported to Beneficio Seco Don Esteban for drying. This process usually takes around 25 to 30 days for the parchment to reach the optimal moisture content, making it ready for hulling.
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.
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.