Rooftop Coffee Roasters - La Bendicion, Nicaragua, Honey process

Tasting Notes: Spiced Oranges, Honey, Nutmeg
Variety: Pacamara
Farm: Finca La Bendicion
Farmer: Luis Alberto Balladarez
Region: Nueva Segovia
Processing: Honey
Altitude: 1300m

Description:
Finca La Bendición (Spanish for “The Blessing”) is Luis Alberto’s cornucopia of coffee treasures. The farm is divided into 8 parcels, and each are planted with a unique or rare coffee variety. This lot is made up entirely of the Pacamara cherry. This varietal was developed at the Salvadoran Institute of Coffee Research by crossing Pacas with Maragogipe (hence, Pacamara). Pacas is a natural variation of the Bourbon variety and provides good cup quality and good yields, while Maragogipe is a natural mutation of the Typica variety which produces comically large “elephant” beans and provides exceptional cup quality, but at low yields. Pacamara is known for having expressive acidity with a complex flavour profile encompassing everything from a honeyed body, to floral aromas, to notes of citrus and stonefruit.

Pair the Pacamara cherries to Luis Alberto’s meticulous honey processing and you get a cup that reminds us of sweet spiced oranges, with a rich honey sweetness. We roasted this to highlight the complexities of the variety, allowing the coffee to express the citrus-y acidity alongside the more herbal, baking spice undertones, the perfect winter coffee. We sourced this coffee through our buddy Billy at West Coast Coffee Traders, who’s been working with Luis Alberto for a few years now.