Brown sugar, chocolate and sultana in a washed lot. Plum, raspberry and orange in a natural. That's the cup, and the plant behind it came out of a Nicaraguan farm at 800 metres, where other coffee was struggling with disease.
Ethiosar is a hybrid of Sudan Rume, Sarchimor and Villa Sarchi: genetics from South Sudanese Arabica combined with rust-resistant breeding lines. The Mierisch family and their cousin Ricardo developed it in Nicaragua. Ricardo was looking for a plant that could cope better with the conditions on his farm, at around 800 metres above sea level.
It's a rare hybrid with useful agronomic traits and a cup to match. In 2021, an Ethiosar from the Mierisch family's Los Placeres farm took first place in the Los Favoritos Private Collection Auction with 90.30 points, the only coffee in the auction to break 90. A strong debut for a variety most coffee drinkers have never heard of.
Why Ethiosar was developed
Coffee leaf rust (Hemileia vastatrix) has caused serious outbreaks across Central America in recent decades, hitting farms planted with productive but susceptible varieties hardest. Plants that hold their yield with less intervention matter more every year.
Ethiosar came out of that pressure. It pairs the cup quality and genetic diversity of Sudan Rume and Villa Sarchi with the disease resistance and vigour of Sarchimor and its Timor Hybrid ancestry.
What is Ethiosar?
Ethiosar was created in several stages rather than one simple cross.
- Sudan Rume was crossed with a Sarchimor line, one of a group of hybrids descended from Villa Sarchi and the Timor Hybrid.
- That offspring was crossed again with Villa Sarchi.
- The resulting plants were selected for the traits the breeders wanted.
It's a complicated pedigree with a simple logic. Sudan Rume contributes genetic diversity and cup quality, and the Sarchimor side brings agronomic traits from its Timor Hybrid ancestry. Villa Sarchi returns in the final cross with more Bourbon-related genetics.
The Mierisch family describes Ethiosar as a stable hybrid that can be propagated from seed. The generation-by-generation breeding and selection work isn't documented in the public scientific literature, so terms like "stable" and "backcross" rest on the family's account.
Meet the parents
Sudan Rume
Sudan Rume, also written Rume Sudan, comes from the Boma Plateau in what is now South Sudan, close to the Ethiopian border. A. S. Thomas documented wild Arabica on the plateau in 1941, and material labelled Rume Sudan later reached international coffee collections.
Breeders value it for the genetic diversity and cup quality it brings to crosses. A 2021 study in Frontiers in Sustainable Food Systems validated the Boma Plateau as a centre of origin for Coffea arabica and found that wild South Sudanese populations are genetically distinct from Ethiopian Arabica. The same study suggests that some genebank accessions labelled Rume Sudan may have been diluted by cross-pollination with other coffee, or mislabelled.
On its own, Sudan Rume is used far more as breeding material than as a commercial variety. Its value lies in what it can contribute to other plants.
Sarchimor
Sarchimor is a group of hybrids developed from Villa Sarchi and the Timor Hybrid. The pairing matters because the Timor Hybrid carries genetic material from Coffea canephora (Robusta), which brought resistance to coffee leaf rust into many modern Arabica breeding lines.
One of the best-known Sarchimor lines is T5296, a cross of Timor Hybrid CIFC 832/2 and Villa Sarchi. World Coffee Research (WCR) lists it as resistant to coffee leaf rust, and says it isn't stable from one generation to the next, so it doesn't recommend it for farmers. T5296 matters as a source of rust-resistant genetics for further breeding.
Villa Sarchi
Villa Sarchi is a natural mutation of Bourbon discovered in Costa Rica in the 1950s or 1960s. A single-gene mutation gives it a compact, dwarf habit that suits steep terrain and high-density planting.
WCR lists Villa Sarchi as well adapted to high altitudes and tolerant of strong winds.
Why the backcross matters
What matters most in Ethiosar's pedigree is what happened after the first cross.
Sudan Rume and Sarchimor were already combined in Centroamericano H1, an F1 hybrid (T5296 × Rume Sudan) bred by a consortium of CIRAD, PROMECAFE and CATIE and released in 2010. It combines strong agronomic performance with good cup quality potential.
Ethiosar took a different route. Instead of stopping at the F1 combination, the offspring was crossed again with Villa Sarchi and then selected further.
F1 hybrids can show strong hybrid vigour, but their seed doesn't reproduce true to type, which is why Centroamericano is propagated clonally. A line selected over several generations can come much truer from seed.
For farmers, planting material grown from seed is easier to spread between farms than material that depends on specialised clonal propagation. That's the practical idea behind Ethiosar: a high-performing plant that farmers can multiply themselves.
Ricardo's experiment
The Ethiosar we know today is closely tied to the Mierisch family and their cousin Ricardo.
Ricardo farms near Finca Limoncillo at around 800 metres above sea level. Yields there were falling and disease pressure was rising, which the family linked to changing rainfall patterns and the challenge of growing Arabica at lower elevations in Nicaragua.
Among his experimental plants, one stood out. It was fruiting heavily and coping with the disease pressure affecting the coffee around it.
That plant became Ethiosar.
On the farms it's still often called Ricardo, after the man who spotted it.
The Mierisch family and Finca Limoncillo
The Mierisch family's coffee history goes back to 1908, when Bruno Mierisch planted his first coffee trees in Nicaragua. The family has grown coffee there for generations since.
Finca Limoncillo is one of the group's oldest farms. It covers 171 hectares in the Matagalpa region, with protected rainforest and nine waterfalls, and the farm has developed renewable energy and community infrastructure alongside its coffee.
We've bought coffee from the Mierisch family since 2007, and Limoncillo has been part of that relationship for much of that time.
Limoncillo has a history of unusual varieties. Yellow Pacamara was first identified there as a natural mutation in a block of Red Pacamara, and the farm's Javanica has its own unlikely origin story. Ethiosar fits that tradition of experimenting with coffee genetics rather than planting whatever is most common.
What does Ethiosar taste like?
Ethiosar has a sweet, chocolatey cup with moderate acidity and plenty of body.
Processing moves it around. A washed lot shows brown sugar, chocolate, sultana and green apple. A natural brings plum, raspberry and orange, with a fuller, juicier character. A honey lot goes toffee, walnut and raspberry jam.
Our current washed lot from Limoncillo leads with fudge, then yellow plum acidity and a creamy pecan finish.
More coffee from fewer plants
The other reason farmers like Ethiosar is its yield.
The Mierisch family reports that Ethiosar yields up to around 40% more coffee than Caturra, from a lower planting density: about 2,800 plants per manzana against about 4,000 for Caturra.
Plant density affects planting costs, pruning, nutrition and general farm management, so a strong yield from fewer plants changes a farm's economics.
The family also reports resistance to coffee leaf rust. The Timor Hybrid genetics in Ethiosar's Sarchimor ancestry contribute to it, although the level of resistance varies between breeding lines, local rust races and growing conditions.
The 90-point Ethiosar
In 2021, Ethiosar took first place at auction.
The Alliance for Coffee Excellence and Fincas Mierisch revived the Los Favoritos Private Collection Auction that year, announcing 15 winning coffees from six farms and five processes.
The winner came from Los Placeres: an Ethiosar processed anaerobic low-temperature. It scored 90.30 points.
The judges described red grapes, blackberry, chocolate and rum, with a creamy body and juicy aftertaste. A second Ethiosar finished sixth.
It was the first time the Mierisch family had included Ethiosar in an auction. Eleane Mierisch, General Manager of Fincas Mierisch and a Cup of Excellence head judge, called the top score “definitely a pleasant surprise”.
Ethiosar beyond Nicaragua
Ethiosar is still closely tied to Nicaragua and the Mierisch family, but it's starting to travel.
In 2026, Ethiosar has been offered from farms in El Salvador and from Fincas Los Rodríguez in Bolivia, where producers grow it at roughly 1,400 to 1,800 metres. Adoption is still limited, but the variety is moving beyond the farms where it was developed.
What we don't know yet
Ethiosar isn't currently listed as a named variety in the World Coffee Research Arabica Variety Catalog, and independent published research on its agronomy and genetics is thin.
Most of what we know comes from the Mierisch family's breeding work, farm observations and the experience of producers growing it. That isn't a replicated scientific trial, but it's a long enough track record to keep buying it and keep watching it.
Quick varietal facts
- Varietal: Ethiosar (also known locally as Ricardo)
- Type: Hybrid developed through successive crosses and selection
- Parentage: Sudan Rume × Sarchimor, followed by a further cross with Villa Sarchi
- Related to: Sudan Rume, Sarchimor, Villa Sarchi, Timor Hybrid and Bourbon
- Origin: Nicaragua
- Associated producers: Mierisch family and their cousin Ricardo
- Growing region: Matagalpa, Nicaragua, with more recent commercial examples elsewhere in Central and South America
- Known elevation: Around 800m at Ricardo's original farm, with current Mierisch Ethiosar also grown at higher elevations
- Growth habit: Vigorous. Plant characteristics vary by selection.
- Fruit colour: Red
- Disease resistance: Resistance to coffee leaf rust reported by the Mierisch family, associated with Timor Hybrid ancestry
- Yield: Reported by the Mierisch family to produce up to around 40% more than Caturra under suitable conditions
- Planting density: Mierisch figures of around 2,800 plants per manzana, compared with around 4,000 for Caturra
- Typical cup profile: Sweet, chocolatey and full-bodied, with flavours ranging from brown sugar and sultana to plum, raspberry and orange depending on processing
- Notable recognition: 2021 Los Favoritos Private Collection Auction winner, 90.30 points
- World Coffee Research status: Not currently listed as a named variety in the Arabica Variety Catalog
Further reading
Alliance for Coffee Excellence: Los Favoritos Winner Shines Light on Lesser-Known Variety
The official account of the 2021 auction and the 90.30-point Ethiosar that took first place.
World Coffee Research: Villa Sarchi
Background on Villa Sarchi, one of the key varieties in Ethiosar's pedigree.
World Coffee Research: T5296
Background on the important Sarchimor breeding line and its Timor Hybrid × Villa Sarchi ancestry.
World Coffee Research: Centroamericano
Context on the related T5296 × Rume Sudan F1 hybrid.
Fincas Mierisch: Family History
The Mierisch family's own history in Nicaragua, from Bruno Mierisch's arrival to the family's present-day coffee farms.
Ozone Coffee: In My Mug 927, Limoncillo Ethiosar
Our latest look at the Mierisch family, the original Ricardo plot and the current washed Ethiosar from Limoncillo.
Frontiers in Sustainable Food Systems: Validating South Sudan as a Centre of Origin for Coffea arabica
Research on the Boma Plateau's Arabica populations and the complicated history of Rume Sudan material.
