Our master roaster Salvador Sans has served as an international jury member in the prestigious “Cup of Excellence, Nicaragua 2009” contest and wanted to share with us this “travel diary”, the result of his knowledge and passion for coffee.
After an eternal Barcelona-Madrid-San José- Managua trip, my first hosts Dora Rivera and Claudia Castellón, responsible for the project that the Spanish Agency for International Cooperation and Development has in Nicaragua, were waiting for me at the airport.
Sunday morning at 8 o’clock we were already on our way to Lake Apanás. We “Fuleamos” (fill the tank) the van in Managua and headed to the province of Jinotega about 170 km from the capital. In this border province with Honduras coffee has been grown since 1820 and for a century has been its main export resource, representing almost half of all coffee produced in Nicaragua.
Dora and Claudia explain to me that AECID has been working since 2006 on this project to improve the quality of life of small coffee growers (no more than 5 “manzanas”) in the highlands of the Lake Apanás basin. Through improvements in cultivation techniques, harvesting, processing, environmental protection and with the necessary marketing tools, they hope that these coffee growers will be able to access markets more willing to recognize and pay more for a better quality coffee in cup, sustainable and friendly with biodiversity.
As a good example we visited the farm “La Estrella”, a small property run by Doña Flora and her husband. They grow coffee (caturra cultivar), beans, corn, fruit trees and some timber, as well as some cattle (cows, chickens). The coffee trees are young, about 7 years old on average, and are grown under the shade of banana and guaba trees that protect and fertilize the soil. Finalist in the Cup of Excellence on three occasions (including a meritorious 4th place) their quality of life has improved ostensibly as Doña Flora explained to me on the porch of her house.
In Estelí, the venue for the Cup of Excellence Nicaragua 2009, I met up with old friends from many parts of the world. Many cups were waiting for us and many conversations about our same passion: coffee.
10th Anniversary of “la Taza” in Nicaragua and 50th contest: an honor to be part of the international jury
Monday, meeting with head judge Silvio Leite (Brazil): instructions and calibration cupping. Over the next three days we would evaluate the 61 finalist coffees out of the 550 that started the preliminary rounds: approximately 748 cups. The day begins at 8:00 a.m. with the cuppings that end at 2:00 p.m. Lunch and departure to visit farms and cooperatives in the area: coffee, coffee and coffee!
I was particularly interested in the visit to the CIRAD (Montpellier, France) coffee plant research center in Sebaco, within the facilities of a Cooperative. They are doing hybrid studies of the most used local cultivar (caturra) with a varietal chosen from Ethiopia to improve the taste quality and the resistance of the plants. We had the opportunity to taste the fruits of some of these hybridized plants and found them very promising.
Thursday afternoon we were free so, with our colleague and good friend Gerard Meauxsoone (Lille, France), we escaped to see the Santa Marta farm that Doña Illiana has a few kilometers from Pueblo Nuevo. A beautiful place in the shadow of spectacular cliffs. Along the way the effects of “Mitch” were still visible. The farm was bought by her father who dedicated it to coffee preserving a good part of the native forest: Santa Marta is an orchard of peace and tranquility. All the coffee is grown under shade and Doña Illiana, with great foresight, is implementing new sustainability projects.
On Friday morning we re-evaluated the ten selected coffees. The first four were outstanding! In the afternoon, the award ceremony took place with the local authorities and the Cup of Excellence management. Parliaments and congratulations to the 61 finalists.
Excitement and nerves among the coffee growers: they know that being among the top 10 will change the lives of their families as the prices at the Internet auction in a few weeks can reach dizzying prices. The winner was Doña María Amparo Castellano Paguaga from Dipilto, Nueva Segovia.
I was an international jury member in the first Cup of Excellence that took place in Managua and I have been fortunate to participate in this contest coinciding with the 10th anniversary in Nicaragua and the 50th edition of this wonderful project that manages to bring to light the coffee of these small producers who strive to achieve an exceptional product. Before, their only way out was to sell their coffee to intermediaries who mixed it with others to obtain the amount needed to fill a container (250 bags of 60 or 70 kg).
Today, thanks to this contest, we can enjoy these selected micro lots (between 15 and 25 bags), and the coffee growers receive their reward for a job well done, with the pride of having their names recognized by consumers who value their efforts in faraway countries. After so many emotions I return to Managua that same night to go back home.
I would like to thank the management of “Cup of Excellence” for their invitation to participate once again in this project that excites me; our Nicaraguan hosts for their hospitality, and my fellow members of the International Jury for their friendship and for the intense days spent in Estelí.