Pinolero

Our first Nicaraguan of the season and we knew this was destined for our Familiar programme from the first slurp - if coffee could give you a comforting cuddle, this would be the one holding you close.

Reliably delicious and easy-going with the silkiest texture we've come across; the perfect antidote to being trapped by bed.

Sited high in the mountains close to the northern Nicaraguan border, Macuelizo is a small town of 7,000 people initially founded in the early 1800s by Spanish conquistadors attracted by the presence of gold alongside an array of other precious metals and minerals. The mining heritage of the town has long since passed with many of the disused mines now housing colonies of guano-producing bats, providing an ample supply of entirely organic fertiliser for use across the regions’ coffee plantations.

Los Jilgueros is one of those farms, surrounded by endemic pine forests at some of the highest altitudes found in Nicaraguan coffee production and dedicated to cultivating exceptional crops. This lot is a relatively traditional natural with an anaerobic twist with cherries spending three days in sealed, temperature controlled fermentation tanks post-harvest before being dried on shaded beds for an additional 30 days.

We taste

Black: Caramel, shortbread, lime
Milk: Milk chocolate, biscuit, citrus