Nicaragua
Mario Ortez

Mario started farming specialty coffee over 5 years ago, and hasn’t looked back. He’s focused on training his farmers to pick the ripest coffee cherries for the best quality cup. Their coffee has notes of hops, pear, honey, and vanilla.

Washed process Caturra

Flavour: hops, pear, honey, vanilla

Body: Acidity:

Roast: omni (filter + espresso)

From the age of 8, Mario helped his father on the family farm, doing whatever he could until he was 15. At that point, the area where the farm was located became part of the war zone, and the entire family had to flee. In 1991, after things had calmed down somewhat, Mario managed to return to the farm and restart coffee production.

Mario recalls that when they first resumed farming, the area had very poor access roads, and the coffee had to be transported on horseback for 8 kilometers to reach the nearest point where a vehicle could access it. A new road was under construction, but despite significant delays, it was finally completed in October 1998. That same month, Hurricane Mitch struck northern Nicaragua and destroyed the newly built road. Mario dryly remembers that after just one week of using the new road, they had to return to transporting coffee by horse again. Fortunately, the reconstruction of the road was not delayed, and by the following harvest, it was back in operation.

Mario began producing specialty coffee five years ago and hasn’t looked back. He employs up to 40 workers during the harvest to help pick the cherries. The biggest change for him has been training his workers to selectively pick only the ripe cherries.

Sourcing and ingredients

100% Caturra coffee beans, provided by Caravela 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: Mario Ortez
Farm/Coop: Finca San Martin
Country: Nicaragua
Region: San Fernando
Altitude: 1400m above sea level
Varietals: Caturra
Process: washed
Harvested: April 2024
Body
Acidity
Tasting notes: Hops, pear, honey, vanilla
Roast style: Omni (filter + espresso)

Varietals

Caturra varietal

Caturra is a natural mutation of Bourbon that was originally discovered in Brazil in 1937, considered to be the first naturally occurring mutation ever discovered.

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

Farm processes

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.