NICARAGUA | Mama Mina | Red Pacamara Petit | Washed

The Mierisch family have deep roots in Nicaragua – Bruno Mierisch Boettiger, a German geologist, first moved to Nicaragua in the late 1800’s, as part of the team tasked with building the Nicaraguan National Railroad. After the completion of the massive project and unable to pay salaries in full, the Nicaraguan government offered land in the mountains of Matagalpa as payment. This land became the first of the Mierisch family’s farms, and many generations later, they’re still working on the same lands. Fincas Mierisch is now comprised of eleven farms in Nicaragua and three in neighboring Honduras, overseen by the 3rd (Doc) and 5th (Wingo) generations of the family.  

Mama Mina was named after Wingo’s great-grandmother Mirna McEwan, the nickname given to her by her grandkids. The farm is located right next to another of the Mierisch family farms, La Huella, and both are located inside the Arenal Nature Reserve in the Matagalpa department. The farm has a unique micro-climate that causes fog to cover the farm for over 60% of the day. This means the farm “auto-shades” itself and does not require many shade trees. This fog also creates cooler temperatures which leads to slower maturation of the cherries. Dubbed Pacamara Petit, by the Mierisch family, this lot is exclusively made up of smaller screen sizes (14-17), and while it doesn’t show the over-size beans typically associated with Pacamara, it certainly shares its characteristics in the cup.

This washed Pacamara from Nicaragua's Matagalpa region comes from Fincas Mierisch, a producer working with Proud Mary Coffee. The Pacamara varietal is a hybrid known for producing coffees with distinctive character, while the washed process emphasizes clean, bright flavors by removing fruit before drying. Coffees processed this way tend to highlight the varietal's inherent qualities and the terroir of Matagalpa's volcanic soils. This lot bridges the hybrid's natural complexity with the clarity that washed processing provides, offering a window into how processing method and varietal selection shape the final cup experience.