Nicaragua Finca La Bendicion Pacamara Natural

Farm Info

Finca La Bendicion is located in Nueva Segovia, on the northern border with Honduras and is owned by Luis Alberto Balladarez Moncada. The Finca sits at an altitude of 1350 – 1700 meters above sea level. The Balladarez family has been in coffee production for three generations and they also own and operate Beneficio Las Segovias, which is a beautiful mill that processes their coffees as well as those of other farmer’s and cooperatives in the Nueva Segovia region. Luis grows the following varieties: Red & Yellow Catuai, Pacamara, Maracaturra, Java, Bourbon, Catimore, and a few hybrids. The lot we selected this year is the big bean Pacamara variety which has been meticulously naturally processed, meaning only ripe cherries are picked then left to dry in the sun with the skin and fruit still in tact. After 25-35 days of drying, the coffee is processed and bagged. We’ve opted for a fairly light roast on this one and the cup is extremely clean with prominent tropical fruit acidity with notes of strawberry and starfruit, florals like hibiscus and jasmine, and white sugary sweetness beginning to end.

Traceability

This is our third year working with Luis! We purchased this lot through our importer partners at The Coffee Quest who began working with Luis Alberto in 2018, the same year his coffee took 5th place at the Nicaragua Cup of Excellence. In 2020 one of his other coffees took first place and he has placed in the top 10 almost every year since 2017. We are very excited to continue this partnership - the coffees from the Balladarez family farms are fully price transparent and the family shares many of our own concerns for the future of specialty coffee. Luis says that maturation and fermentation difficulties caused by climate change are becoming more and more difficult to manage. For this reason, he’s doing everything he can to ensure the biodiversity and health of his land and carefully monitors each stage of coffee processing. All soil additives and amendments are organic and water used in processing is filtered to avoid water or soil contamination after depulping.  We hope to continue this partnership for years to come!

Pricing Info:

Our cost; $5.95/ lb (FOB price, meaning shipping from warehouse to our door is not included)

Paid to producer: 4.60/lb (farm gate price)

Importer margin: 1.20/lb (includes warehousing, customs, freight)

Other Logistics: .40/lb