The first coffee in our lineup to earn the new "funky" sticker. Typically, we love those clean coffees, but every now and then we need a little bit of funk. When Ben from Gold Mountain reached out to us, we realised this is exactly the type of funk we are looking for, complex fermentations, yet maintaining depth of flavour and flavour fidelity.
This is one of three coffees we purchased from the group and the first one we released, we bought a very limited amount of each of the three coffees, so be sure to grab them while you can.
About Gold Mountain Coffee Growers
Gold Mountain Coffee Growers is a group of more than 70 coffee farmers in Nicaragua, founded by Benjamin Weiner with the aim of helping producers earn a better living through producing higher quality coffee.
The project started after Benjamin, who was himself a coffee farmer and member of a Fair Trade cooperative, began speaking with other producers who were struggling to support their families despite receiving Fair Trade prices for their coffee. There were several issues with the existing system, from low prices to a lack of support for the farmers, and so Benjamin began organising a group that could export and import their own coffee, connecting producers directly with roasters and reducing their dependence on intermediaries.
One of the things we find particularly interesting about Gold Mountain is the amount of work they do with the farmers to improve the quality of their coffees. The group has its own team of agronomists and ripeness specialists who work directly on the farms, helping with everything from plant health to harvesting and processing. During harvest their ripeness team even stays on the farms, measuring the sugar content of coffee cherries using refractometers (a tool more commonly used in wine production), to help ensure cherries are being picked at their ideal ripeness.
The group also operates its own farm, Finca Idealista, which they use to experiment with different coffee cultivars and processing techniques, sharing their findings with the other farmers. They have invested heavily into improving the sorting and processing of coffees, with thousands of raised drying beds and several stages of quality control before the coffee is exported.
Beyond the production of coffee, Gold Mountain has also been working on several community projects, including providing access to credit for producers, bringing running water to rural schools and even purchasing an area of rainforest specifically for conservation.
The idea behind Gold Mountain is relatively simple, by improving the quality of the coffee and allowing the farmers to participate in more stages of the supply chain, the producers have a better opportunity to earn a sustainable income from their work. Something that we think is incredibly important, especially in regions where farmers have historically had very little control over how their coffee is sold or what they are paid for it.
About the processing: This coffee has a bold 108 hour carbonic maceration and is a dry processed coffee. This makes the coffee carry these big bold fruity flavours that really earn that "funky" sticker!
About the Roast: This coffee pretty much speaks for itself, it has such expressive characteristics and due to the fermentation it is already very soluble. Our job as a roastery was simply to allow this coffee to use that self expression.
About the coffee:
Region: Jinotega & Matagalpa, Nicaragua.
Altitude: 1,475 MASL
Importer: Gold Mountain Coffee Growers
Exporter: Gold Mountain Coffee Growers
Harvest: 2026
Farmgate price: No data
FOB Price: No data
