Los Suyates

High in the hills of Dipilto — less than 5km from the Honduran border — Don Mario Gonzalez grows coffee the patient way at Los Suyates, among tall native shade trees that slow cherry maturation and keep the land healthy. This lot is the rare Paraneima variety, an anaerobic washed: only ripe red cherries are picked and floated, then fermented whole in sealed tanks at the Los Suyates mill for several days before being washed sparkling clean in concrete channels and dried slowly on raised beds.

Tasting Profile

Bright and juicy, with cascara and ripe raspberry leading into sweet cherry. Silky in the mouth with a clean, sweet, long-lingering finish — the clarity of a washed with an extra layer of fruit.

Coffee Profile Details

Origin: Nicaragua

Region: El Volcán, Dipilto, Nueva Segovia

Farm: Los Suyates

Producer: Don Mario Gonzalez

Process: Anaerobic Washed — several-day sealed-tank ferment, channel washed

Varietal: Paraneima

Altitude: 1,450–1,700 metres

Brewing Recommendations

Shines as filter — delicate, lifted and fruit-forward — while as espresso it turns rich and syrupy with a silky body. A lovely everyday cup with a special-occasion soul.

Don Mario Gonzalez runs three farms in Nueva Segovia, transforming former timber land into thriving coffee farms with the help of his son-in-law Jairo, an agronomist, and his grandson Mario. He's in the rare position of having a picking crew that returns every harvest — a mark of paying well and picking only ripe cherries. These coffees are produced in partnership with Bridazul, a mill run by a majority-women team in Nueva Segovia, and Project Origin. Traded direct, so more of what you pay reaches the hands that grew it.