Episode 603: Nicaragua El Encanto Washed Caturra

Another one from our very good friends indeed, the Mierisch family!

Encanto was actually one of the very first farms the family owned, although originally not for coffee, but cattle. It's still largely a cattle farm to this day, and alongside those cattle come horses too! On my last visit to Nicaragua earlier this year, instead of walking around the farm, we rode on horses like real cowboys (except for me, I had a mule as I’m no cowboy!).

The farm is large, and the land is diversified, which means it produces amazing coffee. Like all the family's farms, everything at El Encanto is really centered around the people who work there, providing great resources such as pre-school facilities, housing, a small shop, water and electricity, and healthcare.

Because of its previous life exclusively as a cattle farm, there's plenty of shade on the farm, which is super beneficial for the coffee plants' growth. By shading the coffee from direct sunlight as it grows, the plants are able to develop at a slower rate. This allows the natural sugars in the coffee cherry to mature and gives the coffee itself a sweeter flavour which you can definitely taste in the cup in this coffee! 

There's a rush of dark chocolate at the beginning but it's underpinned by a sweetness of digestive biscuit. On the finish is a little delicate red grape and then in the aftertaste comes walnuts.

• Country: Nicaragua
• Municipality: Matagalpa
• 
Region: San Ramon
• Farm name: El Encanto
• Producers: The Mierisch Family
• Altitude: 
900 masl
• Varietal: Caturra
• Processing method: Washed

CUPPING NOTES Dark chocolate, digestive biscuit, red grape, walnut

Clean cup: (1–8): 6
Sweetness: (1–8): 6.5
Acidity: (1–8): 6
Mouthfeel: (1–8): 6
Flavour: (1–8): 6.5
Aftertaste: (1–8): 6
Balance: (1–8): 6.5
Overall: (1–8): 6.5
Correction: (+36): +36

Total: (max. 100): 86

Roast Information
Medium-dark - through first and give it some time to develop, dropping it just with the very first pops of second in the cooling tray.