Seasonal coffee: Nicaragua Jinotega Colibrí Azul
Spring has arrived, considered one of the most beautiful times of the year, because it is when we have the opportunity to see incredible colors in gardens and forests. Even birds as agile, charming and very vital as the blue hummingbird are abundant during these days. Yes, we know what you think. What are we doing talking about nature? It turns out that this has served as inspiration for our seasonal coffee, the Nicaragua Jinotega Colibrí Azul, in alliance with the cooperative Global Village.
It is a delicious, natural and quality product, which fits perfectly for the spring-summer season of Incapto. Ideal to share during an afternoon with friends, family or alone, thanks to its notes of ripe cherry, vanilla, with acidity and medium body and with an aromatic touch of orange blossom.
If this new coffee has caught your attention, then we invite you to continue reading to learn more about its qualities, as well as about the Nicaraguan cooperative Aldea Global, with which Incapto Coffee, decided to join forces and surprise grain lovers.
Meet the Aldea Global cooperative
In the product catalog Incapto Coffee, you will find coffees from various parts of the world. However, until recently we did not have one from a country as tropical as Nicaragua, such as Colibrí Azul coffee. This coffee is marketed by Aldea Global.
The cooperative was founded in 1992, with only 22 small producers motivated by the need to promote organic products, friendly to the Environment, avoiding the use of agrochemicals. Always with the objective of improving the health of their families and stimulating the development of their communities.
Currently, they have more than 13,000 small families of coffee farmers and coffee producers in the northern part of Nicaragua.
The main objective of Aldea Global is the direct export of specialty coffees. That is why, in 2002, when one of its grains won the Cup of Excellence of Nicaragua, created the specialty coffee program. In case you don't know it, “the Cup of Excellence” is a competition where any coffee producer can enter if he or she believes that that year's harvest has been exceptional in terms of organoleptic characteristics. With this auction, small producers have had the opportunity to show their coffee, win and obtain very high premiums for it.
Aldea Global's specialty coffee program focuses on developing direct relationships to achieve maximum traceability between producers, roasters and the consumer, who will finally enjoy the small miracle of having a good coffee at home.
They offer their own certificates
This cooperative has its own control system for good practices of those associated with the program. Cert Village. But who can get it? It is intended for its associates, so it is not necessary for any European or American certifier to go and control how they should do things.
This program is carried out with the support of a group of promoters, many of whom are the children of some members of the cooperative. This group of young people have realized that marketing specialty coffees can bring good prosperity to them and their families. So they are in charge of training, providing advice and monitoring producers. Without overlooking that, they must verify that the producers comply with the 10 criteria related to sustainability on the farms.
In short, having the certificate is essential to be able to include your coffee as a specialty coffee lot.
What are those 10 principles?
As we noted above, producers must comply with the 10 basic principles, with which they confirm that their farms meet the sustainability requirements and are the following:
Registration system
The farm must be subject to a comprehensive registration system, where the streams that pass through the place, the cultivated areas and the inhabited areas appear. They must also have records of signed payments to workers, as well as the activity carried out on the farm, such as whether fertilization is carried out. If the answer is affirmative, it must be indicated with what product, when it is done, and the amount used.
The amount of coffee harvested and all expense invoices must also be detailed here. Likewise, each of the records, since they will help producers have a real photo of their farm, save and make better decisions.
Traceability system
This is the second requirement that must be met, which provides security that the coffee sold belongs completely to the farm and that they do not buy from third parties. In this record they must note when they plan to cut the coffee, make forecasts, then compare it with the final harvest and finally verify the harvested quantity with the marketed quantity.
Traceability conditions during storage are very important, since this way the coffee remains in good condition.
Farm waste
To be certified, the property must be clean and tidy. Organic and inorganic waste must be separated and recycled and garbage cannot be burned.
Ecosystem integrity
At this point it includes the conservation of the forest and the mountains around the farm. River banks must be protected, as well as hunting of wild animals prohibited.
Water treatment (waste and honey)
In case you don't know, mead is the result of benefiting process of coffee, where coffee growers are responsible for extracting the mucilage that protects the fruit, either through the wet or dry method. At the end of the coffee fermentation stage, the water that remains contains the mucilage that has separated from the grain.
Unfortunately, a bad practice, still very common in many farms in coffee-producing countries, consists of throwing water anywhere on the farm or in a nearby stream. Well, at this point it is certified that the farms do not contaminate the water of the rivers around them with coffee by-products. A super important point to preserve the Environment.
Delimit areas
It is extremely important that producers delimit the area between coffee cultivation and human activity on the farm.
Job responsibility
Here it is verified that there is no child hiring, since they have to have a record of the age of all workers. The payment documents must confirm that, at a minimum, the minimum wage established by law is paid, in addition to ensuring that they are not forced to work more than the stipulated hours.
In addition, the farm must have a suggestion box where workers can communicate what they consider necessary. Of course, this requirement includes the obligation to respect human rights and ensure that there is no type of discrimination.
Occupational risk policy
The PPE Workers who need it must be given the necessary training for the correct use of fungicides.
Store pesticides correctly
They should be kept in a safe place. These must not be prohibited or harmful pesticides.
Treatment of empty pesticide containers
Empty pesticide containers should not be reused; it is advisable to throw them in the appropriate place. They cannot be lying around the property, much less within the reach of local people.
Coffee growers who meet all these requirements and who are certified are able to sell their coffee at more competitive prices. The effort for good work is rewarded, as long as it is done in a sustainable and environmentally friendly way.
Why try Colibri Azul coffee?
As you can see, the Aldea Global cooperative ensures that all the farms with which it works meet the necessary requirements to market high-quality and specialty grains. In Incapto We subscribe 100% to these requirements and adopt them so that the rest of our green coffee suppliers comply with them.
The Jinotega Blue Hummingbird Coffee from Nicaragua, is a limited edition coffee, with 85 points according to the protocol of the Specialty Coffee Association (SCA). It is great for those who enjoy a medium-bodied cup, with acidity and notes of ripe cherry, vanilla and a pleasant aroma of orange blossom, as well as its caramel sweetness. Characteristics of the spring season, which will make this experience even more delicious.
Like the rest of our beans, Colibrí Azul is a coffee that, in addition to providing an exquisite cup, also stands out for being a complex and structured silky drink, ideal to enjoy alone.
Include in the ranks of Incapto Coffee, quality and natural products is one of our objectives. Since with this, we would be enjoying specialty coffees, supporting the hard work of coffee-growing families, and thus motivating more consumers to join the Movement. Incapto and leaving aside contaminating products such as capsules.
