Nicaragua - El Hormiguero
Origin: Nicaragua, Nueva Segovia (Mosonte)
Farm: El Hormiguero
Producer: Freddy Blandino
Importer: The Good Sourcing / Bridazul
Process: Natural – Carbonic Maceration
Altitude: 1,450–1,600 masl
Varietal: Bourbon Tekesic
Tasting notes: Cashew Butter – Raspberry Jam – Melon – Apricot
-
We roast every Monday and Thursday, and ship on Tuesday and Friday.
For an estimated shipping time, please check our FAQ. - All coffees are Omni-roast (suitable for espresso and filter use).
- All Coffees are roasted to order, ensuring freshness. We recommend letting the coffee rest for a minimum of one week after roasting date, with peak in flavors being around 3-4 weeks.
- A minimum of 4kg is required to place an order with our wholesale pricing.
The Story
El Hormiguero, the anthill, is a small farm of about twelve hectares nestled in the mountains of Mosonte, a municipality in the northern region of Nueva Segovia, Nicaragua. The name feels fitting: something quiet, persistent, and full of life happening just beneath the surface.
The farm belongs to Freddy Blandino, a second-generation producer whose father, Don Roman, passed on part of his own farm, El Recuerdo, to his son. Father and son still work side by side across both farms today. El Hormiguero is farmed entirely under shade, without weeding, and Freddy deliberately leaves dead tree trunks scattered across the land to shelter the farm's biodiversity. Every detail is intentional.
The farm is planted exclusively with Bourbon Tekesic, a selected strain of Bourbon developed by El Salvador's coffee research institute through mass selection in the 1950s and 60s, isolating the plants with the most compelling cup qualities. It's a delicate variety, not the easiest to grow, but one that rewards patience with remarkable complexity.
According to Tim Willems of Bridazul, El Hormiguero has something the neighboring farms simply don't: "I don't know what Freddy does differently, he doesn't always let us in on everything, but it works."
The process
This lot is processed using Natural Carbonic Maceration, carried out at the Bridazul beneficio, a few kilometers from El Hormiguero.
After harvest, cherries are floated at the farm to remove any defects, then transported to Bridazul in sealed bags. From there, the carbonic maceration begins:
- Cherries are placed in sealed tanks in a temperature-controlled room — kept deliberately cool to prevent unwanted bacterial activity. They ferment for approximately 4 days.
- The fermentation produces CO₂ naturally, which displaces the oxygen inside the tanks. This is an inside-out fermentation: the process starts from within the cherry itself, without the addition of external yeasts or other agents.
- Once removed from the tanks, the cherries are dried on raised African beds in full sun for 2 days, then moved to shade for a slow finish of 20 to 25 days.
Milling and pre-export preparation are carried out on-site at Bridazul before the lot is shipped. The cherries were harvested between January and March at elevations ranging from 1,450 to 1,600 meters.
The cup
Rich, fruit-forward, and deeply satisfying, a natural that's all sweetness and depth.
The cup opens with cashew butter: smooth, rounded, and immediately welcoming. Raspberry jam follows with a jammy intensity that feels lush without being heavy. Melon and apricot lift everything with a soft, sun-ripened sweetness that lingers long into the finish.
Complex and generous, this is the kind of coffee that rewards slow mornings and a little patience. A beautiful expression of what Freddy and Bridazul have built together.