Alex in Nicaragua: Let’s Talk Coffee

I spent the rest of yesterday exploring Selva Negra. I was able to meet up with the owner of the farm, Mausi, for a tour. The farm is located on the side of a mountain at an altitude between 900-1600m, near to the city of Matagalpa. It is approximately 1500 acres, 500 for coffee, and 500 for vegetables, other agricultural products, and meat. The final 500 is kept as unspoiled forest. They even have Pumas running around one of the forested sections. Sadly, we did not see any.

This is by far the most sustainable place that I have ever been. Almost everything that is consumed on the farm and hotel is produced right here; from the vegetables and meat that the guests and workers eat, to the fertilizer that is used to grow it all. They even trap the methane gas let off from human waste and use it to cook with. Amazing!! Check out the link to learn more about their practices.
I was really amazed by the commitment the owners of Selva Negra have to their workers, both seasonal and permanent. It’s one of those things that you hear about, but to actually see it in person you gain a much better understanding of the good that comes from it. Mausi was explaining to me how most of the people who show up for work on the farm have literally nothing. The farm provides all their workers with free health care. One of the programs that Selva Negra has in place is to provide workers, who have been with them for a few years, no interest loans so that they can buy their own property. This encourages complete sustainability as workers end up spending time at Selva Negra, learning about organics and sustainable farming practices, and then are able to open their own smaller farms around Matagalpa – growing their products in a very conscientious way.

Yesterday morning, I met up with the Seed to Cup crew for a little coffee cupping. Over the past few days they have been harvesting cherry and learning how to roast coffe. Yesterday, they had the chance to cup what they roasted, and discus their findings.
I spent the afternoon walking out in the coffee farm in search of ripe cherry with Stephen Vick from Sustainable Harvest. Red cherries were a little hard to find as the harvest here is just getting started. It will be in full swing by December. While wandering through spider webs and coffee plants we came across some lemon trees full of fruit that put meyer lemons to shame. The lemons were so good you good eat them right off the tree!
After about an hour of wandering and lots of green cherry we finally came across ripe coffee. The fruit was sweet and a little tangy, it tasted of watermelon with a hint of jalapeño jelly. To make the experience of eating my first cherry even better, I managed to pick my self a peaberry! One of the most interesting aspects of seeing the cherry in its raw state was the mucilage that covers the bean. This is another thing you always hear about it in training, but to actually experience it was great. I was amazed at how slimy and sweet the mucilage was. Tasting it, you really get an understanding of how its sugars can affect the bean. Fantastic!

Late last night we arrived in Montelimar. The sight where the actual Lets Talk Coffee event will be held. After a few glasses of rum and some late night organizing for the next morning’s barista activities, it was time for bed. I’ll take this opportunity to say that that Olga, my former roommate, who has spent the past year setting this event up, is absolutely fantastic.
We woke up this morning to blistering heat and humidity; it makes Florida in August feel nice. After a quick breakfast it was time to head over to the barista room to get set up. The program that we put on today gave people, mostly from producing countries, the chance to learn more about what we do ever day in the retail side of coffee. To put this on, Sustainable Harvest gathered a crew of top notch baristas from around the globe. With the exception of me and one other barista, all them of competed in last year’s World Barista Championship. I felt truly honored to be able to work with such amazing baristas. Also on hand was Skip, the water guy from Cirqua to talk about the importance of water in brewing coffee.
We divided the group of about 60 people into 6 groups and sent them through the café gauntlet. They learned how to pull espresso from Michael Phillips the current United States Barista champion, steam milk, pour latte art, cup coffee, and taste coffee brewed with different types of water. I spent the day running the workshop on alternative brewing methods with my friend Mike Strumpf, from Allegro Coffee.
Mike and I were supposed to have siphon pots and a pour over bar to show the class. Unfortunately, these items were held up by the Nicaraguan customs. Ah, the joys of hosting international events. We were, however, able to explain about these methods and show the class first hand how wonderful French press coffee is.