Drop Coffees - Las Delicias Washed Java, Nicaragua
About the coffee
Flavour description: A sweet aroma of dried apricot. This is a delicate cup with notes of apricot, cacao and citric zest with a finish of brown sugar. A light to medium mouthfeel reminding of elderflower lemonade.
Farm: Las Delicias
Producer: Eleane Mierisch
Colour: Light turquoise
Category: Curious
Varietal: Java
Processing: Fully washed. 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 de-pulped (beans removed from the coffee cherry), fermented overnight and dried on raised beds.
Location: Lipululu in the region Jinotega
Farm size: 20 manzanas (about 13 hectares)
Altitude: 1450-1500 meters above sea level
Harvest: January to February 2021
Price Transparency: The FOB price paid for this coffee was 4,80 US$
Roast style: Light to medium to enhance the natural flavours of the coffee.
Yeeees, you guessed it! This coffee is not just great, it is DELICIOUS. Elegant and delectable. But as you know, delicious coffee does not just happen. The owner of Las Delicias is Eleane Mierisch. Eleane is coming from the 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 have won 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 from 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.
About Eleane Mierisch and Las Delicias
Eleane is one of the leading lights in coffee processing in Nicaragua and Honduras. 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 that. A job title normally dominated by men in Nicaragua.
Eleane comes from a coffee-producing family, but she had studied to be a nurse. She works in the family business for decades but has never owned her own farm – until a few years ago when she acquired Las Delicias all for herself.
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, she knows the land and what it's capable of producing. On top of this, there is Eleanes' 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) in size and all of it is planted with coffee. Eleane is working with a lot of respect for nature and she always says "to be grateful to mother nature".
About the Java varietal
The coffee-growing at Las Delicias, is the mother plant to the Javas we are buying from Bolivia. Seedlings from Las Delicias were brought to Roudriguez' Alasitas to try out new varietals in Bolivia as it gives such a delicate, and sweet cup in Nicaragua.
Java is often called Longberry as that is just what it looks like - the berries and the seeds (beans) are long and slim. However, Java is the common name.
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, with 1000 tortillas going out every day. They have also built daycare centres and schools for the workers' children, 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 specialised staff.
The FOB price paid for this coffee is USD per pound 4,8 USD/lb.