Nicaragua La Estrella - Dark

Nicaragua La Estrella

Roast Level: Dark Roast

Origin: Nueva Segovia, Nicaragua

Variety: Arabica (Bourbon, Catuai, Caturra)

Elevation: 1200-1700 meters above sea level

Processing Method: Washed-Process

Flavor Profile: Baker’s Chocolate, Black Currant, and Fudge

Certifications: Farmer Impact Fund, Living Income Pricing

This Year’s Harvest

The newest lot of Nicaragua La Estrella is rich in both flavor and texture. The coffee performs a balancing act, expressing complex notes of almond brittle and fruit leather in its lighter forms, while maintaining a round yet delicate body. We experienced its darker expressions as viscous and syrupy, exhibiting notes of baker’s chocolate, black currant, and fudge. This is a fantastic coffee that offers both versatility and sophistication, shining as a chocolatey and thick espresso or as a sweet and balanced cup of brewed coffee.

About The Farmers

The Nicaragua La Estrella comes from 126 small scale producers located in the department of Nueva Segovia approximately 150 miles from Nicaragua’s capital, Managua. This region is very close to the border of Honduras and is part of the Cordillera de Dipilto Nature Reserve. The reserve is a place rich with biodiversity of flora and fauna. The name Estrella comes from the Beneficio La Estrella, the coffee wet mill founded in 2013 in Ocotal. Nicaragua La Estrella is comprised of coffee from producers in different municipalities around Nueva Segovia such as Macuelizo, San Fernando, Mozonte, and Jalapa.

Social Impact

Living Income Pricing

Currently, 80% of the world’s coffee farmers live below the poverty line, with the prices they receive often falling short of what is needed to sustain their livelihoods. Because existing equitable pricing models like Fair Trade and Direct Trade don’t go far enough to lift farmers out of poverty or create sustainable livelihoods for their families, this coffee was purchased using the Living Income Pricing benchmark created by Bellwether Coffee Company. This benchmark guarantees that coffee producers are paid a fair and sustainable wage. By choosing this coffee, you’re actively helping to combat poverty among coffee farmers by paying a price that helps close the living income gap.

What It Is:

Traditional pricing models like Fair Trade and Direct Trade, while helpful, don’t go far enough to lift farmers out of poverty or create sustainable livelihoods for their families. To break the cycle of poverty for the world’s 12 million coffee farmers, a new pricing model is needed—one that pays farmers based on living income rather than global market demand.

How It Works:

Partnerships are formed with farmers and production organizations, such as cooperatives, to gather comprehensive data, including their cost of production, productivity, and lifestyle expenses such as food and education. Using this data, a new minimum price for coffee is established that not only covers production costs but also ensures farmers can thrive in their daily lives. Contracts signed with producers based on this Living Income Pricing model ensure a fair and sustainable wage for their work.

Farmer Impact Fund

Purchasing this coffee also supports the Farmer Impact Fund (another Bellwether initiative) which directly invests in coffee-growing communities. Through this fund, producers receive balloon payments that they can use autonomously for community and farm-level projects. A small surcharge is added to the price of the green coffee beans, and these funds are directly distributed to farmers, creating a direct connection between the consumer, the coffee roasting company, and the lives of coffee producers and their families and community—something unprecedented in the coffee industry.