About the Farm
El Rocio is a local blend of three really tiny farms located one beside each other that are producing excellent coffees but due to their size will hardly be able to export coffees on their own. The three farms are Finca Los Cipreces, Finca Los Llanos, Finca El Mango and the guys that own those are respectively Ever Manuel Caceres, Osman Antonio Espinoza, Marvin Adali with his wife Juliana Paz Flores.
This particular lot is mainly made up of Caturra and Catuai and is processed as fully washed to showcase the particular terroir and micro-climate of the valley where the three farms are located. Cafetos de Segovia is a dry mill located in Ocotal, right in the middle of a few coffee areas which makes it ideal for producers to deliver the wet parchment the same day as they harvest and process it.
The Start of Something Good
The business is a family business owned by a local coffee producers family. Martha and Ana, two sisters manage the business with a whole team. It started 5 years ago when Martha and Ana’s family realized the prices paid for coffee were really low in the region and that the quality they could produce in their own farm was actually pretty good. They then decided to create the dry mill to add value to their product. They have a few farms that they inherited from their dad.
Hard times bring Opportunity
Like many properties in the area (north of Nicaragua, border with Honduras) the farms story takes its root in a complex context. In 1975-1979 the Nicaraguan revolution hit the entire country (but was even stronger at the border with Honduras) and their family emigrated to the US for 6 years before coming back to Ocotal. Their house and part of their farms had been taken by force by the government and only the house has been returned to them when they came back. They lost more than 100 manzanas of coffee farm.
Their Process
At the dry mill, they process their own coffee but also the coffee of some relatives and a few non related producers from the area (in total 47 other producers work with Cafetos de Segovia). During the peak, up to 300 quintales per day can be delivered at the mill. The drying capacity is of 3,000 quintales at one specific time.
A new greenhouse has been built this year and this is where they do majority of the experimental lots or more delicate varieties. Most of the coffee is delivered as wet parchment or cherries. 80% of the lots are washed. They usually start the drying in the patio, in the shade for 5-6 days and then in the sun. All patios are covered with some black net so the coffee is not directly on the floor. Shade drying is really needed as the sun hits pretty hard at this lower altitude (less than 900m). They move the naturals every 3-4 hours, pile the coffee at the hottest hours of the day and 30 people in total work at the mill during the season.
Attributes:
Cup Score | 85 |
Cup Profile |
Liquorice essence floral, strawberry milk flavour with orange and plum, and nice velvety hazelnut spread mouthfeel |
Altitude | 1200-1500 |
Process | Washed |
Varietal | Mixed |