Finca Aurora Venecia Kombucha FW RFA

Dr. 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 the 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.

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.

Venecia was selected from a natural Bourbon mutation by Instituto del Café de Costa Rica (ICAFE). It is well adapted to rainy conditions and its small size makes it possible to plant more densely per hectare. Venecia produces large beans and has a good quality potential, especially when planted at high altitudes.

This unique Kombucha processing method uses black tea kombucha and SCOBY (the microbial starter for kombucha) to instill unique flavors into this Venecia lot.

Cherry is selectively handpicked and processed on the farm. Ripe, red cherry is floated to remove under ripes and damaged cherry and then pulped. Coffee is placed in a tank with black tea and a blended SCOBY. A new SCOBY will begin to form (it typically looks like a thick skin of clear jelly) on top of the fermenting coffee after about 2 days. The microbes in the SCOBY will consume sugars and release acids and flavor compounds into the fermenting coffee.  Employees carefully monitor pH, temperature and brix level during fermentation. Coffee is removed when the pH reaches 3.6.

Following fermentation, parchment is washed in clean water and laid on raised beds to dry. Parchment is raked frequently to ensure even drying. It takes approximately 22 days for parchment to dry. Once dry, parchment is bagged in Ecotact and rested in the on-site warehouse for 11 weeks.

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. 

Venecia was selected from a natural Bourbon mutation by Instituto del Café de Costa Rica (ICAFE). It is well adapted to rainy conditions and its small size makes it possible to plant more densely per hectare. Venecia produces large beans and has good quality potential, especially when planted at high altitudes.

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.