Finca Las Mercedes

Matagalpa, Nicaragua

Our partnership with Roger and Isabel of Finca Las Mercedes began on a sunny day in late 2018 when Ben Weiner, CEO of Gold Mountain Coffee Growers, stopped by our Court House market stand. We were looking to expand our collection of coffees and add a high scoring natural process coffee to complement our washed coffee* from our Honduran partner farm Finca Del Cerro. Ben mentioned how he worked with a few farms in Nicaragua that produced nice naturals but he had recently tried a delicious lot of honey processed coffee from a small farm in the mountains called Finca Las Mercedes.

When we heard this we did what any English speaker would do, which was to assume that “honey processed” had something to do with bee honey. We would soon learn that in Latin American coffee growing communities, the “honey” or miel from “honey processed” simply refers to the naturally occuring sugars in the husk of the coffee fruit. So basically anything sweet that contains sugars can be referred to as “honey” not just bee honey. As we describe in our FAQs, the different ways of processing coffee are determined by at what stage in the drying process the seed (read “bean”) is separated from its fruity husk.

So, the coffee Ben had shared with us turned out to be a hybrid of washed and natural where only part of the fruity coating is separated at the beginning of the drying stage. This has yielded a “best of both worlds” scenario where the beans contain some natural sugars and yet still packs the punch of a more traditional brew.

Roger and Isabel have been very kind to share with us all the cool little aspects of their coffee production, as well as breathtaking photos of their farm which rests alongside the Arenal Natural Preserve and rolling hills with miles of beautiful views.

We are very excited to be planning a trip to visit the farm and share an experience with Roger and Isabel this coming winter. Stay tuned for more details!