Drop Coffees - Las Delicias Natural Java, Nicaragua
About the coffee
Flavour description: The coffee has an aroma of sherry. This is a sweet and a little boozy-floral cup, with flavour notes of papaya, cacao and rum raisin and a fudge-like flavour in the finish. The coffee has a medium body with a juicy texture.
Category: Adventurous
Colour: Orange
Producer: Eleane Mierisch
Farm: Las Delicias
Varietal: Java (Longberry)
Process: Natural
Location: Lipululu in Jinotega region
Harvested: February 2021
Farm size: 20 manzanas (about 13 hectares)
Altitude: 1450-1500 masl
Price transparency: The FOB price paid for this coffee is 4,8 USD/lb.
Roast style: Light to medium to enhance the natural flavours of the coffee.
The Java from Las Delicias is delicate and floral, one of the prettiest most well-balanced coffees we have all year. Even after buying as much as we can, it is still very little. The owner of Las Delicias is Eleane Mierisch. Eleane is coming from a well-established coffee family that have several farms, you may have had our coffees from Limoncillo from Nicaragua and Cerro Azul from Honduras. The Mierisch family are indeed producing very diverse coffees with dozens of different varietals and trying different processing methods with accurate, thorough processing at that. With those coffees, the family has won the Cup of Excellence in Honduras and Nicaragua several times.
Las Delicias is the first farm that is Eleanes very own farm and this very coffee is just the fifth harvest coming out of there, and Drop Coffee is proud to showcase it to you for the fourth year. Here she is living out her dream profiles on coffees. At Las Delicias, Eleane is mainly growing the Java varietal. The Java is delicate and bright, but every year it gets more and more intense notes of citric and apricot.
This Java from Las Delicias is processed as a natural, which means that the coffee beans are dried in the coffee cherries. By doing this process, the floral notes in the Java varietal are getting a boozy infusion to it and the sweetness is increased. It is a louder and more intense presentation compared to the washed processed version of the Java that we also currently have.
About Eleane Mierisch and Las Delicias
The Mierisch family are producing very diverse coffees with dozens of different varietals, trying different processing methods with accurate and thorough processing. This coffee is not just great, it is delicious. But as you know, delicious coffee does not just happen. The owner of Las Delicias is Eleane Mierisch. Eleane is one of the leading lights in coffee processing in Nicaragua. Much of the reason the coffee from the family Mierisch is tasting so clear and sweet, is thanks to their great processing, and Eleane is the one in charge of it. Head of processing is a job title dominated by men in Nicaragua. She is coming from a well-established coffee family that have several farms in Honduras and Nicaragua, but Las Delicias is the first one that is hers alone and this coffee is just the second harvest coming out of her farm. The mouthfeel and sweetness remind us of the Bolivian taste profile, almost like drinking chocolate. From the Java varietal, we get more vibrancy and notes of citrus and apricot, but with the natural processing we are tasting more passion fruit, and fudge.
Las Delicias is located in the region of Jinotega at an average altitude of 1450 metres above sea level, which is considered very high for Nicaragua. It is located next to another Mierisch farm, so Eleane knows the area very well, as well as the land and what it's capable of producing. Above her knowledge of the region, there is her passion for coffee, and then you can start to understand why she wanted to produce coffee on a farm of her own. The farm is 20 manzanas (about 13 hectares) and all of it is planted with coffee. Eleane is working with a lot of respect for nature and "to be grateful to mother nature" as she says it herself.
The coffee growing at Las Delicias is the mother plant to the Java we are buying from La Linda in Bolivia. Seedlings from Las Delicias were brought to Roudriguez' La Linda to try out new varietals in Bolivia as it gives such a delicate yet sweet cup in Nicaragua. The varietal is often called Longberry as that is just what it looks like - the berries and the seeds (beans) are long and slim. However, it is commonly known as Java. Common for Nicaragua, the coffee is washed and separated by density directly at the farm, before it is taken by truck to the process station. At the processing station the coffee is dried on raised beds in the fruit.
Sustainability
The Mierisch family are very active in social projects around the farms. Not only do they have a full-time kitchen team at their farms to make breakfast and lunch, 1000 tortillas going out every day. They also have built daycare centres and schools for the workers, located at the farms. Children helping their families at the farms is common in Nicaragua, but instead, they are asked to go to the school or leaving the kids at the caretaker as they are working. The workers are also offered help with family planning and medical advice from specialized staff.
The FOB price paid for this coffee is USD per pound 4,8 USD/lb.