NRM | Nicaragua Finca San Ramón
Balanced Profile | Light-medium roast | Red label
Tasting Notes: Floral, Orange, Malt
IT ALL STARTS AT THE COFFEE FARM
Finca San Ramón sits within the Dipilto mountain range, a nature reserve in the Nueva Segovia region of northern Nicaragua, close to the Honduran border. Owner Donald Efrain Roque has worked with coffee all his life as a third generation coffee producer - both his grandfather and father were dedicated to coffee - and over time, he acquired a very special affection and passion for it. Purchasing the farm in the early 1990s, he named it San Ramón to honor his father, Ramón Roque. In the years since buying the land, the farm has grown larger as he acquired more adjoining plots, and is still at its core a family business. According to Donald Efrain, it’s “a family effort since my family is involved in the business 100% in all aspects”.
Donald has been working with Caravela for ten years now (he's one of the producers who started with Caravela since their very beginning!) and his point of view on coffee has completely changed since he started producing specialty coffee. Now he is consistently seeking to improve and to become a better farmer. For him, the biggest challenge to convert his farm from conventional coffee to specialty coffee was having to train and educate his workers to change their harvesting and processing practices. He strongly believes in the potential of specialty coffee in Dipilto, Nueva Segovia and he recommends every single farmer in the region to focus solely on producing a high-quality product. As he says, “The farm conditions such as height, vegetation, as well as shade grown coffee care, with organic fertilizer and wet mill management are all factors that help the coffee quality.”
In 2006, Donald Efrain found out about the Cup of Excellence auction and coffee competition in Nicaragua and decided to participate, just to see how much potential his coffee had. Placing with the top 25 winners at #15, he became more motivated than ever to continue improving the quality of his coffee, and also, he felt it was “a good opportunity to show how there is coffee quality in the area of Dipilto, Nueva Segovia, Nicaragua”.
Donald Roque
Donald Roque
TRACEABILITY
PRODUCER
Donald Efrain Roque
MILL / WASHING STATION
Finca San Ramón
PROCESSING
Washed
ALTITUDE
1270 meters
DID YOU KNOW
An estimated 95% of Nicaragua’s coffee farmers are small-scale producers, like Sr. Roque, and family is the primary source of labor on these farms.
PRICE TRANSPARENCY
$4.10
Price paid by Driftaway
$3.57
Free on Board price
$2.97
Farm Gate price
$2.05
Fair Trade price per pound
$1.85
Coffee C-Market price per pound
$0.05
Driftaway's World Coffee Research contribution per pound
This coffee travelled 3,652 miles to the Driftaway Coffee roastery in Queens.
Love the coffee? You can share your compliments & tasting observations with the farmers.
WHY DID WE SELECT THIS COFFEE?
In 2006, Donald Efrain found out about the Cup of Excellence auction and coffee competition in Nicaragua and decided to participate, just to see how much potential his coffee had. Placing with the top 25 winners at #15, he became more motivated than ever to continue improving the quality of his coffee, and also, he felt it was “a good opportunity to show how there is coffee quality in the area of Dipilto, Nueva Segovia, Nicaragua”.
With diverse microclimates along the mountain range and good altitude, the Dipilto region has optimal conditions for growing specialty coffee. The quality control that Donald Efrain employs means that we get a coffee with floral aromas, citrus flavors and a sweet, malty balance.
AVERAGE CUPPING SCORE
85.75
/100
85.75
SCAA Cupping Score
12 x 70 kg
Bags purchased
4 years
Length of producer relationship
100% (in 2022)
Transparent coffees purchased
HOW DID WE ROAST THIS COFFEE?
This coffee is being roasted by Ian T. from August 13 to September 6 in Brooklyn. We use the Loring Kestrel roaster for this profile. We have strict guidelines for each of the coffee profiles, and this roast has to pass the development time ratio test as measured in real-time by the roasting software, Cropster. Once it does, it is approved for production.
QUALITY CONTROL
We perform Quality Control via a process of coffee tasting called cupping on all of our production roasts once a week from home as per our Covid-19 shelter in place guidelines. Each cupping is conducted by our roasting staff Kieran D. and Ian T. using standard equipment, and is logged by our Q-certified cupper Ian T. All coffees are evaluated on a scoring scale of 0 to 3.
- 3.0 = exceptional roast - exceeds expectations
- 2.5 = on par with profile - matches expectations
- 2.0 = good roast, but 1 or 2 elements could be improved - needs improvement
- 1.5 or lower = failed - do not ship
PRODUCTION AND SHIPPING
Less than 24 hours after roasting, we bag your coffee in our production facility in Greenpoint, Brooklyn. Our production team is led by Anthony and Torie, and supported by a rotating cast of local artists, musicians and independent professionals.
AT YOUR HOME
Brew this coffee with your favorite home brewer and enjoy the taste of incredible coffee! Here are a few tips on how to make the best coffee on each brewer.
View other posts about how to make better coffee at home on our blog Coffeecademy.