Nicaragua
El Suspiro

Dry Fermented Then Washed process Bourbon

Flavour: 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.

Learn everything about this coffee:

Ethical, traceable sourcing

This page has all the sourcing information (variety, process, region, story, importer, and more) that our importers share with us, and give us permission to use.

The transparency helps us talk confidently about the quality and background of our product, and it helps you know exactly what you’re buying.

Learn more:
Coffee page transparency legend
Our coffee philosophy
Our business approach

Fresh harvest coffee

We only source and roast coffee from each country’s latest harvest season (so the green coffee is never older than 1 year from the time of picking, processing and packing). This ensures the sensory qualities are always at their peak and unaffected by excessive ageing.

Roasted for espresso and filter (best enjoyed black)

Roast style: omni. Omni roasts are designed to brew and taste great both as espresso and filter. Our omni single origins generally sit on Agtron values in the ~70-60 value range. So, technically, they are somewhere in the lighter side of the medium spectrum.

Designed for espresso and filter brewing. Best enjoyed black.

Learn more:
Our Loring Kestrel S35 roaster
Our roasting style and approach

Best brewed within days 15-49 post-roast

The ‘fresh is best’ saying doesn’t apply to coffee (contrary to popular belief). Waiting before opening and brewing your bag of whole coffee beans helps develop peak flavour and acidity.

But heads up: if you buy pre-ground coffee, brew it as soon as possible.

Learn more:
Our recommended brewing window

Try our custom brewing recipes

Our recipes and ratios are tailored to our coffee sourcing and roasting styles, bringing the best flavour and feel out of each coffee.

For pour over, immersion, and other filter brewing styles, check our brew guides.
For our espresso single origins, we recommend a coffee:yield ratio of 1:3:

Dose: 20g ground coffee
Yield: 60g espresso
Total brew time: ~24-28 seconds

This is just a starting point! We encourage you to experiment, taste, and adjust to find the recipe that you enjoy the most.

Learn more:
Our espresso brew guide (single origin)
Brewing ratio calculator

Packaging and sustainability

Bags: ABA-certified home compostable (AS 5810-2010)
Labels: recyclable
Valves (only on +250g bags): general waste
Box and tape (online orders): recyclable

Learn more:
Our packaging

Producer: Jaime Sevilla
Country: Nicaragua
Region: Matagalpa
Altitude: 1350 – 1450m above sea level
Variety: Bourbon
Process: Dry Fermented Then Washed
Harvested: February 2015
Importer: Silo/Nordic Approach
Body: Light
Acidity: Low
Tasting notes: Very sweet, low acidity, lemon sherbet
Roast style: Omni (filter + espresso)

Variety

Bourbon variety

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.