Matagalpa Coffee

Coffee of Matagalpa and Matagalpa Coffee Tour

November 4, 2018

“Café de Matagalpa 1862” commemorates the year Matagalpa became a city and pays tribute to the region’s coffee producers. The coffee is presented as having dried-fruit, caramel, prune, and chocolate notes.

Café de Matagalpa 1862 characteristics

• Roast: Full City Plus
• Process: Natural or unwashed; the coffee fruit dries with its skin and pulp intact following fermentation.
• Varieties: Arabica Red Catuai and Caturra
• Origin: Arenal, Matagalpa, Nicaragua
• Altitude: 1,450 metres
• Lot: A single farm lot
• Flavor: Prunes and chocolate
• Aftertaste: Chocolate and caramel

The berries are dried naturally in the fruit, dehusked by hand, and then roasted. The coffee is selected by density through immersion in water rather than machine grading.

Project beginnings

The project began on October 24, 2015, as a guest of the Municipality of Matagalpa Coffee Festival. Its central aim was to demonstrate an unwashed process in which freshly picked coffee dries inside the fruit.

Coffee Quality and Distinctive Notes: Density

September 1, 2018

The article identifies bean density as an important element of coffee quality and associates coffee’s distinctive notes with several interacting factors.

1. Variety: Different varieties, including Java, Bourbon, and Maragogype, have different characteristics.
2. Altitude and density: The elevation associated with classifications such as Strictly Hard Bean varies by latitude and country.
3. Seed chemistry: The article associates chlorogenic-acid concentration with bean density.
4. Soil composition: Soil and leaf analysis can reveal nutrient deficiencies that require correction.
5. Water: Rainfall or irrigation supports the development of the seed, endocarp, fruit, and plant.
6. Light: Photosynthesis and maturation depend on available light in combination with variety, water, soil, nutrients, and altitude.

Shade, altitude, and plant variety

The article distinguishes shade from a direct growth factor, describing it principally as protection against excessive heat, dehydration, and leaf burn. It emphasizes that responses to elevation, cloud cover, and shade differ among coffee varieties.

According to the author, coffee quality and flavor complexity should therefore be understood through the combined effects of genetics, altitude, bean chemistry, soil, water, light, and local growing conditions.