5. Nicaragua – Martha Alvir Red Catuai Natural

This coffee comes from sisters Martha and Ana Alvir, whose relationship with Nicaragua continued even after their family left the country during the political upheaval of the late 1970s.

In 2013 their father passed the family farms, Bethania and Las Hortensias, to the sisters. Rather than continuing to focus predominantly on high yielding varieties, they began gradually transforming the farms towards quality.

New varietals were introduced including Catuai, Parainema, Maracaturra, Gesha and Java.

Today around 50 hectares are managed as agroforestry, alongside a protected 10 hectare forest reserve. Coffee grows beneath native shade trees, providing habitat, protecting the soil and creating a more diverse farming environment.

The sisters also developed their own processing facilities, allowing them to control quality much more closely while also providing processing support for neighbouring growers. Their operation provides permanent employment throughout the year and substantially more work during harvest.

The coffee is Red Catuai which is an interesting variety. Catuai was developed by crossing Caturra and Mundo Novo, producing a compact plant capable of good yields while retaining Bourbon ancestry and cup quality.

After harvesting, ripe cherries are sorted and undergo approximately 48 hours of anaerobic fermentation. They are then dried as whole fruit on raised beds for around three to four weeks.

That long, controlled natural process encourages sweetness and ripe fruit character while careful sorting prevents the cup becoming overly fermented.