An introduction to the History of Nicaraguan Coffee

Nicaragua Coffee History

Coffee cultivation began in Nicaragua in the late 1800s, but it did not become an important export product until the mid-19th century. Increased global demand for coffee (especially from North America) and reduced supply in the Pacific Islands have led to a steady growth of the coffee market here. Around this time, the first large plantations appeared in Managua, spread throughout Jinotepe, Matagalpa, Jinotega and Nueva Segovia. The government of Nicaragua encouraged European immigrants from Italy and Germany to buy land to buy coffee, much of which was controlled by white landowners, who often used local labor to extract the land at low wages and in poor conditions, before land redistribution produced small plots (usually less than 5 hectares).

Although its neighbours Costa Rica, El Salvador and even Guatemala began growing coffee in the 1980s, political and economic instability in Nicaragua during the long Nicaraguan revolution (circa 1974-1990), as well as typhoon damage in 1998, were among the factors that took the country off its radar. After the 20th century, coffee prices dropped sharply (1999 - 2003), hurricanes and millennium droughts, and today there are about 40,000 coffee farmers in Nigeria. Due to the shortage of fertilizer funds, coffee trees are mostly grown organically. Coffee farmers have begun to focus on quality and production and marketing records ("production and marketing records" refer to coffee that can be traced back to a single estate or a common cooperative formed by producers). Nigeria's coffee industry is showing signs of rejuvenation.

Nicaragua coffee flavor characteristics

Nicaragua is located in Central and South America, bordering Honduras to the north, Costa Rica to the south, the Caribbean Sea to the east and the Pacific Ocean to the west. Nicaragua has a wide lowland on the east coast, plateaus and mountains in the interior, active volcanoes on the west coast, and the largest lake in the southwest, Lake Nicaragua, with a tropical climate. The main economic source is agricultural products, accounting for 60% of total exports. Nicaragua coffee is characterized by its refreshing and balanced taste. It has a clean, bright, sour and soft flavor like Costa Rica coffee when lightly roasted, and a sweet, thick and mellow taste of Colombia coffee when deeply roasted. Jinotega and Matagalpa and Segovia regions are the best coffee producing areas in Nicaragua.