Nicaragua El Cipres

Finca El Cipres stretches across twenty hectares of rolling hills in Nueva Segovia, where cool mountain air and stands of native pine create a natural sanctuary for coffee. First established in 2000, the land was still running cattle when agronomist Isacio Javier Albir Vilchez acquired it in 2010. Convinced that coffee could restore the degraded pastures, he began re-planting shade trees and young coffee seedlings among the existing conifers. Over the last decade the pastures have been replaced by a mosaic of forest and coffee that shields soil, shelters wildlife and buffers local water sources. Fifteen full-time employees—drawn from surrounding communities—tend the farm year-round, and seasonal pickers earn fair wages during harvest. Isacio’s reforestation work, together with careful soil management, is steadily boosting yields; he expects production to more than double as the youngest blocks reach maturity, proving that ecological stewardship and rural livelihoods can grow side by side.

For the natural process, only deep-red cherries are hand-selected at peak ripeness and transported the same morning to Agua Sarca. After a quick flotation to skim off light or damaged fruit, the intact cherries are packed into clean, food-grade plastic tubes and sealed for a 48-hour, low-oxygen fermentation that coaxes out tropical fruit sweetness and velvety body. Once the pH hits its target, the coffee is spread in thin layers on open patios and turned several times a day beneath the intense Nicaraguan sun and the cool Segovian nights. Over roughly twenty-five days the moisture drifts down to about eleven percent, locking bright berry notes inside the parchment. The rested, fully-dried coffee is hulled, size-graded and delivered to Cafetos de Segovia for final preparation, emerging as a vibrant natural lot that captures both the terroir of El Cipres and Isacio’s commitment to regenerative agriculture and community prosperity.