Los Suyates. Cafe de Nicaragua

Highlights

“Los Suyates is a farm in the highest parts of Dipilto, less than 5 km from the border between Nicaragua and Honduras, in a leafy rural area beside El Volcán, a small locality above Dipilto Viejo. Its owner Mario González is a first-generation coffee producer: although the farm once produced pine timber, Mario transformed it into a small coffee paradise nine years ago. Mario owns three farms in the Nueva Segovia department — El Amparo, El Avión and Los Suyates — and manages them as a small family business. His son-in-law Jairo, a qualified agronomist, played a fundamental role in implementing coffee cultivation across all three. Mario takes advantage of the existing shade and the microclimate of Los Suyates to produce several varieties: large trees act as windbreaks and shade his Maracaturra and Catimor plants, while native shrubs and fruit trees provide the natural fertiliser used in coffee production. Borrowed from the world of wine, carbonic maceration lets coffee develop more fruit notes and brings body, complexity and richness to the cup. The cherries first ferment in sealed tanks in a temperature-controlled room (kept cool to avoid unwanted bacteria that would favour alcohol production). CO2 is injected into the tank to drive fermentation from the inside of the fruit outwards, rather than from the outside in, as happens when yeasts or external products such as fruit are added. The cherries stay this way for several days, taking on a rich, gelatinous texture, before being moved to African beds and dried in thick layers to further enhance sweetness.”