Welcoming Nicaraguan Coffee Back to Our Line Up
Over the past few years, most coffees that have rotated into the spot of our orange label come from Central and South America, mainly Guatemala, Mexico, Peru, and Colombia. These coffee-producing countries are often represented on our menu either in blends or in other spots on our single origin offerings. This time around, I wanted to find a different coffee origin that suits our orange label. In my search, I was happy to see that a handful of coffees from Nicaragua had just landed in the US, because the last time we featured this coffee producing country was in 2018!
This coffee comes from the Santa Ana Estate, located in La Fundadora, Jinotega–one of the most productive areas for coffee in Nicaragua. Santa Ana has been in Aida Lila Zeledón’s family for four generations across a century. It was started by Aida Lila’s grandfather in 1924, and when her father passed nearly 20 years ago, she decided to purchase it from her brothers and dedicate her life to the treasured family legacy.
Aida Lila walking through the Santa Ana estate with her family
The size of Santa Ana is 100 hectares–90 of which produce coffee, and are managed by 32 permanent employees. Aida Lila gives a lot of care to the farm’s natural environment to allow for the local flora and fauna to thrive. She works to protect and preserve water, which is sourced from the waterfall and streams located within the estate. Santa Ana is also part of the LIFT program by Mercon Specialty–one of our newest partners for coffee imports. LIFT provides training and technical assistance to producers, and is built around their three pillars of productivity, environment, and social development. Training is given by highly qualified Mercon agronomists, and courses they provide range from coffee plant physiology, water resource management, farm and pest management, and financial literacy, to name a few.
As a long standing coffee business, Aida Lila and her family are well invested in their community. They make regular contributions to their local church, health center, and the La Fundadora school. Since Aida Lila has taken over the estate, she has invested in mills and storage for her coffees. Her willingness to learn and dedication to improving coffee quality and quantity has brought her great success. In 2021, one of her coffees was ranked as one of the 10 best coffees in the Nicaragua Cup of Excellence competition.
We’re excited to welcome Nicaragua back to our lineup by showcasing this coffee from a dedicated woman producer. This sweet, easy going coffee has subtle notes of lemon, shortbread, and honey–a true crowd pleaser.