Coffee Story
Finca La Bendicion represents another of Luis Alberto's remarkable coffee farms, nestled in the community of La Providencia within the scenic Dipilto-Jalapa mountain range in northeastern Nueva Segovia. Positioned at an impressive elevation of approximately 1,300 meters above sea level, the farm spans an expansive 252 acres of land, featuring a rich and diverse ecosystem that supports an array of flora and fauna. Of this total area, 105 acres are meticulously cultivated for coffee production. The name "La Bendicion," which translates to "a gift from God," perfectly encapsulates the farm's exceptional qualities and importance to Luis Alberto.
The layout of the farm is divided into eight distinct parcels, each skillfully planted with unique coffee varieties, which include Caturra, Red Catuai, Hybrids, Villa Sarchi, Pacamara, Maracaturra, H-3, Marselleza, SL-34, and Java. The coffee plants flourish due to the ideal growing conditions created by the farm's rich biodiversity, light sandy soil, and consistent annual rainfall measuring between 1,400 and 1,600 millimetres. Once the cherries reach their peak ripeness, they are carefully harvested and transported to the Las Segovias Mill, sorted by variety. The drying process occurs in controlled, low-temperature environments that preserve bean quality. The drying lots are arranged on African beds, where they benefit from a combination of direct sunlight and shade nets, ensuring the preservation of optimal drying conditions. Washed coffees and honey typically dry around 20 to 25 days, whereas naturally processed coffees require a slightly more extended drying period, ranging from 30 to 35 days.
Beans from a Pacamara coffee plant are big, unlike most other varieties of coffee. They also tend to have a distinctively complex and, sometimes, creamy and fruit-forward flavour profile. The Pacamara coffee varietal is a creation of the Salvadoran Institute for Coffee Research (ISIC) back in 1958, which resulted from the crossing of Pacas and the Maragogipe varietals (Paca from Pacas and Mara from Maragogipe). Pacas, a mutation of the Bourbon varietal, are compact, rugged and sturdy little troopers. They are highly disease-resistant, can quickly adapt to many growing conditions and provide high production yields. Maragogipe, having mutated from the Typica varietal, are known for their ‘largeness.’ These tend to be tall trees with some of the largest coffee seeds, and although they tend to produce low yields, their cup quality is quite remarkable. The idea behind the creation of Pacamara was to take the exceptional cup quality of the Maragogipe and combine it with the toughness and higher yields of Pacas.
