Finca Bethania

Ana & Martha Albir are third-generation coffee growers and owners of Finca Bethania, in Nueva Segovia, Nicaragua. The farm spans a total area of 42 hectares dedicated to cultivating a variety of coffee plants. Ana and Martha adhere to principles of sustainability and environmental protection. Finca Bethania not only recycles water used in the production process, returning only clean water to the rivers, but also takes particular care in preserving the natural forest together with the ecosystem and wildlife.

Ripe Java cherries are hand-picked in the cool morning and delivered the same afternoon to Finca Bethania tiny wet mill close to the border of Honduras, ensuring sugars remain intact and uncontrolled fermentation is kept in check. Whole fruit is then sealed in food-grade tanks fitted with one-way valves, where the cherries ferment anaerobically for 48–72 hours; pH is checked twice daily. Once drained, the coffee begins a two-stage patio dry: for the first five to six days it rests under shade on patios carpeted with dried husk and covered by black mesh to moderate temperatures at this lower altitude (< 900 masl), before being moved into full sun until moisture reaches 10–11 percent. Cherries are turned every three to four hours and heaped during the hottest midday period to prevent surface cracking, bringing total drying to roughly 20–25 days. After a 30-day resting period in GrainPro to stabilise humidity, the parchment is hulled, size- and density-sorted, colour-sorted and hand-picked to export-ready zero-defect standards.