Santa Luz

The producers, La Bastilla Estate, cover two farms - La Bastilla and Santa Luz. These are approximately 20 kilometres away from Jinotega within the Reserva Natural Cerro Dantali El Diablo.

Both farms have been Rainforest Alliance certified since 2003, when they took ownership of the two abandoned coffee farms with the long term view of re-establishing the business in a sustainable manner. This work has involved a lot of replanting and diversification of the varieties on offer. Educational projects were created to provide opportunities for the youth in the local area.

This turned in to a more formal arrangement with the Ministry of Education and now provides schooling for more than 200 children and 6 teachers. All operations are carried out here, from not only the picking and processing, but storage and export.

The H3 varietal was planted in 2015, and is a cross between Caturra and an Ethiopian landrace accession. Produced as part of the first wave of F1 hybrid varieties, H3 does still have some susceptibility to rust but has maintained presence in the fields due to its exceptional cup quality.

Cherries are picked by hand and are fermented in bins with yeast developed specifically for coffee added to control the profile. These special, washed lots have tropical-fruit-like (pineapple) tastes, giving this coffee very tropical, juicy flavours.