I’ve had a long relationship with coffee…back in the day when my Mama used to have church circle and the ladies would leave their half drank coffee cups beside their chairs as they exited, I would crawl around the corner and sneak a drink of their leftover coffee. As I grew, so did my love for coffee…it was my friend in college when I needed to stay up extra late, then as I eased into the working world, it greeted me every morning. There was even a day when I thought of myself as a bit of a coffee snob and maybe even somewhat rigid in my coffee regimen. I really only liked to drink “organic” coffee…beans grown without the use of pesticides. And now, even though I try to drink coffee only on special occasions, my love for the bean continues to grow.
I recently gained a whole new respect for coffee when I was given the opportunity to travel to Nicaragua with one of our local coffee vendors, Steve Gassaway with Mountain Bird Coffee from Eureka Springs, Arkansas. Now, I can’t lie, I used to give Steve a hard time because all of his coffee isn’t certified organic…most likely the reason he invited me on this trip. Steve sources his beans from Rainforest Alliance CertifiedTM farms, and he wanted me to visit El Recreo Estate to meet the Ferrey family who have been producing specialty coffee for over 50 years. Steve also invited his lovely wife, Rhonda, his trusted assistant and our travel agent, Claire Bullard, and Justin Eaton, Mountainbird Coffee customer and owner of IDK Cafe in Bentonville, AR. I don’t think any of us had any idea of the lasting effects this trip would have on us.
We flew into Managua, Nicaragua, which is about a two and a half hour road trip from the Jinotega region, home of the El Recreo coffee plantation. The high altitude and weather conditions make the Jinotega region, also known as the coffee triangle, one of the finest areas for coffee growth. We were greeted on Monday morning by Carlos Ferrey, who is the youngest son of Carlos and Leana Ferrey, owners of the El Recreo Estate Farm. Carlos and his sister, Miriam would continue to be our tour guides for the entire trip.
This family, which consists of Carlos and Leana, their daughter, Miriam and sons, Jorge and Carlos, are all active in the entire process from bean to cup. Carlos and Jorge oversee the plantation and are constantly improving operations with new technology, while Miriam and her husband, Hector, live in the US and take care of the importing process.
We arrived to the plantation early afternoon, just in time to grab a quick lunch and head out to the fields for the end of the day measuring ritual. It was also the day they honor the Virgin Mary for the Immaculate Conception, so after all the beans were counted (pun intended!), we headed back to the community center to celebrate, and then early to bed.
On Tuesday morning, we toured the mill and got to see where the coffee is washed, peeled, sun-dried, and then prepared to be bagged as high quality green coffee. After that, we had a coffee bean picking contest. We first learned about the plants and the art of picking. Not all berries are ripe, or red, at the same time so you have to be careful when picking as to leave the green berries on the tree to continue to ripen. It’s a hard job, and it made me really wonder why coffee isn’t way more expensive.
After the contest, we prepared our gifts that we brought for the children of the farm.
There are about 40 permanent families living on the farm year round. In addition to permanent housing, El Recreo provides a chapel for worship, a school for the children, medical facilities, and a fair salary. They also provide a technical training school where workers can take courses to improve their knowledge of sustainable agricultural methods and farm administration. They also believe in promoting from within and many of the foremen of the farm started out being pickers. They also help train farmers from small surrounding farms about sustainability and how to take care of their farms. They even offer courses including reading and writing.
After lunch, we got in the car a took about a 45 minute ride over to visit their other plantation called Zaragoza, where we also had a small party for the children who live there. This is also the site of the nursury where all new coffee trees are started. Coffee trees take about five years from planting until production. Hundreds of trees are planted each year to ensure continual production.
After the car ride back from Zaragoza, we had another wonderful dinner, visited for a bit and then headed for bed.
Wednesday morning, and it’s bittersweet. We leave to go back to Managua as some have fairly early flights out the next morning. On the way, we stopped in Jinotega to visit the market. Once in Managua, we also went to the market for a bit before we headed out to our farewell dinner with the entire Ferrey Family.
This was a fabulous trip to a gorgeous place, but it was the people there who touched me. There will not be a time when I drink a cup of El Recreo coffee that I won’t think of this trip and the people….The Ferrey Family…Carlos, Leana, Miriam, Carlos, Jorge and all the workers at the farm, and Steve and Rhonda Gassaway, Claire Bullard and Justin Eaton. Steve, I can’t thank you enough for inviting me.
Enjoy Diana’s entire photo essay on our Facebook page!
