SSCC Nicaragua Trip Article in Juniatian
Posted on Wednesday, November 17th, 2010 by Lindsay
Landscape of Nicaragua from Managua to Selva Negra
From Managua To Huntingdon
Standing Stone Coffee Company’s Staff Travel to Nicaraguan Coffee Plantation
By John Huffstetler
Last week, three staff members of Standing Stone Coffee Company traveled to Matagalpa, Nicaragua to the Selva Negra (Black Forest) coffee plantation. Organized by Selva Negra, the “Import to Cup Tout” lasted five days from Nov. 11 to 15 and had 18 attendees, all related to the specialty coffee industry. Greg Anderson, the co-owner of Standing Stone, and Lisa Hershey and Lindsay Reedy, two managers, represented the coffee shop and roastery on the trip.
Mausi and Eddy Kühl bought the Selva Negra Coffee Estate, and Mausi leads the plantations operations.
They are dedicated to providing quality coffee while maintaining sustainable practices and providing good
working conditions for their employees. “With a warm welcome from estate owners and other folks who partner with this in incredible coffee business, there is a beautiful depth in the conversations and outstanding views and sights to see, from
landscapes to the heart of the trip,” said Reedy.
Carefully picking a coffee cherry
The group’s intention was to learn about and experience this part of coffee production that is typically foreign to those who roast and serve the drink. “Eighty percent of the process is done before we get the beans,” said Anderson. Standing Stone roasts, grinds, and brews coffee. Roasting is a complicated process of controlling high temperature levels over time, and brewing can be delicate. Especially when preparing espresso shots, there is measurable skill involved. Yet, in comparison these steps are relatively simple and quick. “Coffee ‘beans’ are the seeds of the coffee plant’s fruit—the cherries. Each picker has to select a ripe cherry one at a time. You have to twist it as you pull, or else you risk pulling the entire stem out. Once you have done that you have damaged the coffee tree. Another stem will not grow back to replace it,” said Reedy.
The group experienced picking first hand. The experience was educational and allowed for some perspective into the lives of coffee pickers. “Coffee picking is a learned art, a delicate craft, and difficult work for a low wage. Workers typically enter the field around 5a.m. in the morning and depart at 2p.m. We picked for one hour, yet with 18 of us working for one hour we earned about $3 total,” said Reedy.
Similar insights came when the group explored other parts of coffee production. They viewed the depulping process, where coffee cherries are stripped of the sweet fruit down to the seed or coffee “bean.” They also visited the dry mill, where the previously washed beans go through further processing. Although any coffee production involves depulping and drying, the Selva Negra estate promotes alternative methods to the ones used by larger estates that furnish big retailers. Much like Juniata, Selva Negra is committed to sustainability. “Some coffee plantations let the water they use to depulp the coffee run into local streams, creating algae that damages the ecosystems. [Selva Negra] aerates and removes the sugar throughout the process and reuses the water. The have a lab on the estate where they develop organic pesticides based on observations of what deters local insects. And due to composting efforts, the workers (usually around 400) produce only one 55 gallon container of trash per month,” said Lindsay.
Another standard related to sustainability is producing shade-grown coffee, which is preferred in order to preserve natural habitats and avoid dangerous monocultures of plant species. “All trees within the plantation are indigenous to the region and many of these are centennial trees that have grown to such heights that provide a gradient of shade from very high to lower and more manageable
shade of the younger trees,” said a representative via Selva Negra’s website. This process also lengthens the life of the tree.
“A shade grown tree will last around 60 years,” said Reedy. “A non-shade-grown tree last from 6 to 8
years.”
Along with sustainable practices involving the local ecosystem, Selva Negra also strives for excellence
regarding their workers.“The farm has good working conditions. It provides for the workers [a] good housing system (this means
concrete houses, with concrete or tiled floor, kitchen with chimney and washing place, etc.), elementary
school for worker’s kids, and a scholarship program for those who want to continue education…A health
clinic with a full time nurse and medicine supplies, garbage disposal system, transportation, electricity, and food supplies for those who work at the farm.” said a representative via Selva Negra’s website.
Mausi and Eddy Kühl were not the first owners of the Selva Negra. The estate has a long history that begins in the colonial period. “In the 1880′s the Nicaraguan government invited young German immigrants to come and settle in Nicaragua in order to promote coffee growing in the northern highlands. Many young immigrants accepted the offer, thus forming the main coffee plantations of the country, many of which bear the names of the immigrant’s motherland.
Selva Negra’s coffee farm is called Hammonia, Latin for Hamburg, which was the hometown of Mr. Hans Bösche, German immigrant who first settled the land.” In the 1970s, the Kühls returned from abroad after the dangerous conditions in Nicaragua involving the
Sandinistas. They purchased the estate and after their four daughters attended university in the U.S. they gained American contacts. These contacts grew and now provide tours of their plantation. Anderson first contacted the estate while at a Coffee Fest hosted in Atlanta, GA.
Among the 18 participants were Anderson’s parents, Joel and Dorothy Anderson, and Todd Arnette, who now owns Williamsburg Coffee and Tea Company and who is a Juniata College alumnus. The trip, for some, was indescribable. “How do I begin to explain this to my garden club?” said Dorothy Anderson.Yet, for others the experience prompted some perspective into the coffee industry.
“I wish baristas, roasters and shop owners would have this comprehensive coffee experience at least once, to not only broaden their cultural knowledge, but the vast world connection and influence of a beverage we take for granted when the morning commute occurs,” said Reedy. She added, “Personally, this adventure being my first beyond the [U.S.] borders, the trip changes my
perspective on the big things and the little things of life.”
For more information, read about the trip on Standing Stone’s blog, http://
standingstonecoffeecompany.com/blog/ or visit Selva Negra’s website, http://www.selvanegra.com/.