We have been buying from the Mierisch family since 2007 but their coffee story starts all the way back in the late 1800s. Bruno Mierisch Boettiger, a German geologist, was provided a plot of land in the high mountains of Matagalpa by the Nicaraguan government in lieu of unpaid wages after working on the construction of their National Railroad. Bruno never returned home to Germany, choosing instead to take part in the burgeoning coffee revolution taking place in Nicaragua. His farm “Las Lajas” initially grew lemons, but in 1908 Bruno planted his first coffee tree. Today, Fincas Mierisch comprises 9 coffee farms in Nicaragua, and 3 coffee farms in Honduras, run by 3rd, 4th, and 5th generation coffee producers.
Dr. Erwin R. Mierisch, Bruno’s grandson, his wife, Maria Ligia McEwan de Mierisch, and their children Erwin Jr, Eleane, and Steve took on the mantle of responsibility for this legacy in the early 1990’s, shifting from commercial coffee into Specialty. Today, Dr. Mierisch is still in charge of all agronomical decisions for the farms, and Eleane Mierisch serves as our General Director. Erwin III (or Wingo as we know him!), is the 5th generation coffee producer and can be found in the QC lab or handling Client Relations.
Known for their experimental processing, varietal work and exceptional coffee, the Mierisch family employ over 3000 staff during the harvest. They pay their employees 30% more than the minimum wage, provide free food, housing, day care and healthcare facilities for families and offer free education to help staff diversify their skills. The teams follow sustainable farming practices such as minimal use of chemicals, and exercise considerate land management to reduce their environmental impact as much as possible. They're internationally recognised for the quality of the coffee they grow, their exceptional processing, and the variety of coffee varieties they work with. In Nicaragua; 6 Mierisch farms are located in the Matagalpa department. The Jinotega department, a little bit farther north-west, is home to 3 farms. The family have been working in Honduras since the end of 2011, with 3 farms located near the community of Rio Blanco in the municipality of Siguatepeque, of the Comayagua department. Since meeting in 2007 we’ve bought from 9 of the different Mierisch farms, with 4 being key relationships we come back to again and again. The Mierisch family have been incredible friends to us over the years and actually helped us move our very first full container of coffee into the UK many, many years ago.
Finca Limoncillo
The story we have with Finca Limoncillo is a long and exciting one, and we don’t intend for it to stop any time soon! This relationship was a key step in the history of our business - we’re really proud of everything that's happened in the past, and super excited for where we can go in the future. In 2007 we were buying from Limoncillo as part of a buying group, we loved it from the very first time we cupped it, and it was a coffee we just had to get. It was only after the auction closed that we discovered it was owned by a family in Nicaragua who were already good friends of Steve’s, and indeed probably the only people he knew from the whole country at the time!
For a few years we persuaded our Nicaraguan importers to bring the coffee into the UK for us, but eventually received notice they were not going to be buying the coffee again (for reasons other than the cup quality). This led to some frantic phone calls and a thorough search down the back of the sofa to fund buying twelve months’ worth of coffee all at once. We had never done this before and there were many obstacles in the way, but we were lucky we were able to pull everything together in a very short amount of time. This relationship has gone from a one-off Cup of Excellence buy to a fantastic long-term relationship that we’re so very proud to have. Limoncillo is located in Matagalpa and, at 173 hectares in size, it. is. huge! Situated in an amazing location, it boasts nine waterfalls within the farm. 119 hectares of the farm are used for coffee cultivation, with the remainder used to raise cattle and horses and left to natural woodland. More than 60 families live on Finca Limoncillo year-round, which is a testament to how much the Mierisch family care about the people who support them. The fact that the family are friends helps us drill down into the details of what they do for the people who work for them, and the information continues to prove to us that good people grow good coffee.
At Limoncillo, the family…
- Pay their staff 30% more than what is typical minimum wage.
- Provide free housing for 60 families.
- Provide free electricity and running water for their workers' homes.
- Provide free food for all workers.
- Provide free daycare facilities for families to use.
- Provide free healthcare facilities.
- Employ on-site teachers who educate the staff and teach other skills, such as pottery and weaving. The goal is to help staff diversify their skills. The teachers are also paid twice the wages they would receive in the cities.
- Community: Yasica Sur
- Department: Matagalpa
- Farm Manager: Fausto Martinez
- Coffee Area: 119 hectares
- Elevation: 850-1110meters
- Harvest Months: October-February
- Diurnal Temp. Cycle: Avg High 25C, Low 17C
- Coffee Varieties: Javanica, Red and Yellow Pacamara, Ethiosar, Red Catuai, Red Bourbon
- Protected Rainforest: 54 hectares
- Awards: Cup of Excellence 2008 (2nd Place)
Finca San José
The San Jose farm was acquired in November 2003. At the time it was completely abandoned, and due to its inaccessibility it's been a work in progress for many, many years. It's up in the chain of mountains that marks the border of Jinotega and surrounds the skirts of Apanas lake between 1,300 to 1,400 metres above sea level. Another favourite Mierisch farm, Finca La Escondida can be seen from the very top of San Jose.
It's an incredibly beautiful farm with amazing views that are well worth the off-road trek up the mountain to gain access (even if we have gotten stuck two times on visits!). Dr. Mierisch said that he may build himself a small house on the farm to retire to one day: "overlooking the coffee plants and Lake Apanas in the background sounds like a dream come true". We first bought coffee from Finca San Jose via the Los Favoritos auction during a year when the Nicaraguan Cup of Excellence didn't happen. Without the usual nationwide Nicaraguan auction, there was a bit of a gap left and so the Mierisch family stepped in with a competition of their own where they offered auction lots which were the top ones from their nine farms; different plots, varieties, processing methods, picking days, all the usual specialty coffee fun! Thanks to this auction we came across Finca San Jose and it was our favourite of all the Los Favoritos so we went out and won it, then spoke to the family about getting our mitts on more of the coffee the following year, and we've had it every year since.
- Community: Lipululo
- Department: Jinotega
- Farm Manager: Jorge Luis Mendez
- Coffee Area: 46 hectares
- Elevation: 1250-1400 meters
- Harvest Months: December-March
- Diurnal Temp. Cycle: Avg High 21C, Low 15C
- Coffee Varieties: Javanica, Yellow Pacamara, Gesha, Red Catuai, Caturra, Yellow Pacas
- Protected Rainforest: 3 hectares
- Awards: Cup of Excellence 2012 (23rd Place)
Finca La Escondida
Finca La Escondida is close to Lake Apanas near the city of Jinotega, which is the capital of the department of Jinotega in the north-central region of Nicaragua. The straight translation from Spanish to English of “escondida” is “hidden”. A fitting name because the farm is hidden from the road by forest and trees, which makes it appear to blend right into the side of the mountain.
The first trees were planted here in 2006, with the organisation of the farm planned around identifying the plots with individually different micro-environments resulting from factors such as soil quality, sun exposure and temperature range. This is one of the upsides of planting a new farm from scratch – being able to plan ahead! As a result of their experience in the area, the Mierisch family built a mill with a huge investment, and they used some of the staff already in place at the neighbouring San Jose farm to blend together an Escondida team comprising of experienced and new members.
- Community: Lipululo
- Department: Jinotega
- Farm Manager: Jose Elias Contreras
- Coffee Area: 70 hectares
- Elevation: 975-1230meters
- Harvest Months: December-March
- Diurnal Temp. Cycle: Avg High 25C, Low 21C
- Coffee Varieties: Laurina, Red Catuai, Javanica, Yellow Pacamara.
Las Delicias
We first bought from Las Delicias in 2017 and have since come back year on year. While we haven’t been sourcing from Las Delicias for as long as some of the other Mierisch projects, we’ve been delighted by the farm’s Nicaraguan coffee ever since. The farm is located in Jinotega, next door to San José, at an average altitude of 1,450 metres above sea level.
Much of that deliciousness is thanks to their amazing processing, and Eleane Mierisch is in charge of that. She works in the family business but has never owned her own farm – until 2 years ago, when she acquired Las Delicias all for herself. Eleane knows the area very well, and knows the land and what it's capable of producing. Add to this her passion for coffee, and you can start to understand why she wanted to produce coffee on a farm of her own.
- Community: Lipululo
- Department: Jinotega
- Farm Manager: Jorge Luis Mendez
- Coffee Area: 12 hectares
- Elevation: 1260-1450 meters
- Harvest Months: December-March
- Diurnal Temp. Cycle: Avg High 21C, Low 15C
- Coffee Varieties: Javanica, Yellow Pacamara, Gesha, Yellow Pacas, Red Bourbon
- Awards: Cup Of Excellence 2017 (4th Place)
