A trip to see a complete coffee operation, the mill and farms of the Mierisch family, from 2006.
Way back in time, I visited the Mierisch family in Matagalpa to see their mill and farms. A wonderful short trip, with some photos to share! Horses, JavaThere are several types of Abyssinia variety coffee, but they are not from Ethiopia but rather Indonesia. Abyssinia 3 = AB3. PJS Cramer, a Dutch plant researcher, introduced this variety... ...more coffee cultivarCultivar is a term used interchangeably with Varietal in the coffee trade to indicate plant material, although there are distinctions.: The naming of a cultivar should conform to... ...more, Yellow Pacamara… all kinds of stuff!
It was the first time to see some of these newer varieties they were growing, and other innovations like their biogas collection. And to ride horses! Fincas Mierisch has grown and changed since this time, but I think their focus on quality and their coffee practices haven’t changed at all.
My early morning walk at Placeras, another wonderland of beautiful coffee trees under more beautiful shade trees. Amazing., (Nicaragua 2006) Incredibly healthy coffee trees on the Limoncillo farm under a heavy shade canopy. We came to Nicaragua to visit the Mierisch family farms and this is what we saw., (Nicaragua 2006) 
A nature walk at Limoncillo Estate to the waterfall. What? You don’t have a waterfall on *your* estate? No, those fake ones in the ‘burbs don’t count., (Nicaragua 2006) What can I say. Yankee was the name of this particular coffee plot., (Nicaragua 2006) Fresh cherry washed into the depulper that removes the outer skin., (Nicaragua 2006) At Limoncillo they have been adding an enzyme to the water to help initialize the breakdown of the mucilage layer, the muciligo., (Nicaragua 2006) The coffee cherry is then driven to the mill. These trucks have massive capacity, and negotiate some pretty rough roads. Near Limoncillo, one ran off a road and rolled, but the driver was unhurt., (Nicaragua 2006) The truck either has bulk or bagged cherry. In either case, each cultivar is kept separate as they are put into a water-filled receiving tank., (Nicaragua 2006) The resulting coffee is washed out into a tile-lined cement tank to ferment off the muciligo., (Nicaragua 2006) “Patio” in Nicaragua means black plastic spread on the ground. There is nothing wrong with this, and plastic isn’t going to impart taste through the parchment layer to the coffee., (Nicaragua 2006) One fiesty goose., (Nicaragua 2006) The mucilage-covered seed and the skins are washed into a criba that separates the two, and removes some floaters (dead, hollow seeds) and underripe., (Nicaragua 2006) The nursery (for humans that is) and health care facility at Placeras., (Nicaragua 2006) Another coffee that the Mierisch family does a great job with is the large bean Pacamara. Note the slightly pointed form on the tip of the cherry. Pacamara is not an entirely stable varietal and 15% reverts back to Maragogype or Pacas types., (Nicaragua 2006) Pacamara parchment (pergamino) drying on screens. This is averaging around 19/64ths screen size – very large., (Nicaragua 2006) Irwin and the Stallion. I just don’t know about the hat, dude., (Nicaragua 2006) We left Limoncillo farm for another Mierisch farm, Las Placeras. This is also in Matagalpa Yasica Sur. An outbuilding at Placeras., (Nicaragua 2006) After breakfast we took a little ride around the farm. Appropriately, I road a Mule., (Nicaragua 2006) Yellow Pacamara! An interesting Pacamara note. I was told in El Salvador there are 8 “strains” of Pacamara with differing cup results. One is known to be somewhat onion-scallion in character … something I have tasted in Pacamara coffees I don’t like. Others are simply mild and boring. Meirischs Pacamara is awesome and lively., (Nicaragua 2006) Incredible tropical foilage and flowers on the path. This is about 10′ tall x 4″ diameter., (Nicaragua 2006) On the waterfall path. Some gnarly tree trunk and coffee branches., (Nicaragua 2006) Not all livestock are pretty princess ponies with jewels in their forehead. Sorry gals …, (Nicaragua 2006) More of the same … yawn … where’s the nearest Burger King?, (Nicaragua 2006) The hump is prized in Asia. (Nicaragua 2006) One last look at the Mierisch family at the drying area… Stev actually lives in Manhatten, Irwin Jr. manages the farms more. During the civil war, it was their mother who stayed behind and ran the coffee farms, while Irwin Sr. took the boys to the states for school., (Nicaragua 2006) Irwin Sr. and one of the farm foreman next to an oversized Maragogype tree., (Nicaragua 2006) Of course the kids were hanging out around the kitchen …, (Nicaragua 2006) I know these look unusual, but they are simply at a stage of ripening between yellow and red. I do think it is odd that with the Java I could see both green and red on the same cherry. In general the tree has a low yield., (Nicaragua 2006) The parchment coffee. Another surprise is this elongated and pointed form, Ethiopian in it’s character. I expected Java to be one of the highly hybridized, modern types actually grown in Java. What I think we have here is one of the early types taken from Yemen or Ethiopia to Java., (Nicaragua 2006) This is one of the projects I came to see, the Java cultivar planted at Limoncillo. This tree has a more upright form which is fairly easy to note., (Nicaragua 2006) The prize-winning cattle at Las Placeras. I thought these were Brahma but my Brasilian pal says they are another Indian type. I need to take better notes…, (Nicaragua 2006) At the end of the process, a final hand sorting, after the machine color sorting. This is often called EP (Euro Prep) but is now quite standard for top grade specialty coffee., (Nicaragua 2006) I’m voting NO too… dammit, (Nicaragua 2006) An afternoon break for the Meirisch dudes; R to L; Irwin, Steve, Irwin Sr., (Nicaragua 2006) Magic portal, take us to our next destination …. El Salvador!, (Nicaragua 2006) Placeras has a large communal kitchen with lots of seriously oversized metal cookware. If you need to make beans for 200 people, Placeras is the place., (Nicaragua 2006) The reason for this method is that all the ripening happens at once sometimes, and coffee drying/preparation/dry-milling is cetralized in the hotter low-lying areas, such as Sebaco. Hey, it’s better to lay down temporary plastic than pave it all, when the full areas is only used for 1 month a year., (Nicaragua 2006) Washing the coffee down the channel after fermentation at the Limoncillo Mill., (Nicaragua 2006) Inside the mill, the screening machine used to separate seed sizes, broken bits and peaberries., (Nicaragua 2006) Next we went down to the dry mill where all the Mierisch coffee is prepared. Custom rakes on the “patio”, (Nicaragua 2006) Picker’s basket with some really nicely selected ripe cherry., (Nicaragua 2006) Bags of cherry are usually walked from the nearby picking areas to an area where they can be loaded on the truck., (Nicaragua 2006) Caturra at Limoncillo Farm. Limoncillo is in Matagalpa in a region generally called Yasica Norte., (Nicaragua 2006) The tips (new leaf) on the Java ranges from bronze to this extraordinary red, something else I have never seen., (Nicaragua 2006) Around the farm there are collectors for bio-gas, such as this. It is used for the kitchen, and other fuel needs., (Nicaragua 2006) A favorite of mine, timber bamboo. This is about 3-4 inch canes and 30-50′ tall. The variegation is like Alphonse Karr, a loosely clumping type of Bambusa Multiplex, but this is larger., (Nicaragua 2006) Irwin likes Placeras because it is where the livestock is kept. Here, a Peruvian Paso horse, supposedly with such a smooth ride you can drink a cup of coffee while riding!, (Nicaragua 2006)
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