Nicaragua El Suspiro: Sample Coffee Roasters

Nicaragua
El Suspiro

We find flavours of very sweet, low acidity, lemon sherbet

Body Acidity

Finca (Farm) El Suspiro is owned by the Mierisch family, a name you might recognise if you’ve been drinking Sample Coffee for a while.

El Suspiro is the smallest farm owned by the Mierisch family. Located in the well-known coffee region of Matagalpa.

Bourbon (but not the booze)

This is the bourbon varietal of coffee, which along with caturra is one of the most commonly seen varietals of arabica coffee.

Thought to originate on the Island of Bourbon (now Réunion Island) off Madagascar, bourbon grew out of mutations of Ethiopian and Yemeni arabica plants.

These plants were then further cultivated in Brazil, before they were transported back to East Africa. Bourbon is now often associated with Rwanda and Burundi coffee production.

The video below tells the entertaining journey of how bourbon came to be, from James Hoffman’s talk last year at the UK Barista Championships.

If you haven’t already picked up a copy of his book The World Atlas of Coffee, trust us when we say it’s worth your time. James is managing director of the UK roaster Square Mile, a former world barista champion and also blogs and tweets his thoughts on coffee.

The Mierisch family

The Mierisch family has been involved in coffee since 1908, but over the last 15 years they’ve made a large increase in the number of microlots on their farms.

With investment in new cultivars, techniques, processing, and employee training, the family has proven that hard work and dedication get results. They have been Cup of Excellence winners several times and have also attained a solid reputation as socially and environmentally responsible farmers.

Maria Ligia Mierisch, one of the four siblings, started getting more actively involved in the management of this farm in recent years.

Sourcing and ingredients

100% Bourbon coffee beans, provided by Silo/Nordic Approach and roasted by us on Gadigal land / Sydney.

Country grade: Unknown ?

Packaging

Bag: ABA Certified home compostable
Label: Recyclable
Valve (on bags larger than 250g): General waste
Coffee ordered online is shipped in a recyclable cardboard box

Brewing this coffee

We recommend brewing this coffee 15–49 days post-roast. If pre-ground, brew as soon as possible. Our advice on storing coffee.

1:3
dose:yield
ratio

To brew on espresso, we recommend using 20g of beans (dose) to get 60g of espresso out (yield), during 24-28 seconds.

g dose

g yield

View the how to brew espresso (single origin) guide.

1:16.7
beans:water
ratio

To brew in infusion/fed brewers (V60, Chemex) use a ratio of 1:16.7 ratio of beans:water.

g beans

g water

View full recipes and videos in our brewguides

1:14.3
beans:water
ratio

To brew in immersion brewers (plunger, AeroPress, Kalita, batch brewer) we recommend using a 1:14.3 ratio of beans:water

g beans

g water

View full recipes and videos in our brewguides

1:12
beans:water
ratio

To brew as cold brew we recommend using a 1:12 ratio of beans:water

g beans

g water

View full recipes and videos in our brewguides

Producer: Jaime Sevilla
Country: Nicaragua
Region: Matagalpa
Altitude: 1350 – 1450m above sea level
Varietals: Bourbon
Process: Dry Fermented Then Washed
Harvested: February 2015
Body: Light
Acidity: Low
Tasting notes: Very sweet, low acidity, lemon sherbet
Roast style: Omni

Varietals

Bourbon varietal

A natural mutation of the Typica varietal, Bourbon is named after Reunion Island (then known as Il Bourbon) where the French cultivated the Typica plants which naturally mutated.

The location

Coffee from Nicaragua

The true potential of Nicaraguan coffee has been hindered by a long history of political instability and natural disaster, however successful programs such as the Cup of Excellence competition and the Nicaraguan Specialty Coffee Association have helped drive the potential of Nicaraguan coffee into real quality production

The Matagalpa region of Nicaragua

The region is named after the capital city, with coffee coming from both private estates and cooperatives

Farm processes

Dry Fermented Then Washed process

Machines are used to remove the flesh from the coffee cherry before being fermented in water, washed again, and finally sun dried. This process tends to result in more distinct, cleaner flavours.

2 brew notes from subscribers

Nicaragua El Suspiro

Thomas’s Kalita Wave

Full bodied. Crispy bright acidity. As balanced as it gets. Tried the V60, loved it but thought the Kalita would compliment the size of the body. It so did. I used a sieve to remove the boulders and it really cleaned up the acidity (highly recommended move). I went a step further and used a chocolate shaker to take out the fines but the improvement wasn't as drastic as the removal of the bigger particals. Bloomed for 30 seconds. Finished pouring at 1:05.