personal coffee passport

Your coffee: a mix of Brazil and Nicaragua

bacchi sterker blend - coffee specs

Background of this coffee in the Netherlands

Brazil

Honestly, Brazil had never been on our minds as a potential origin for coffee importer This Side Up. We didn't think our mission of helping smallholders market their coffees would fit in such an established coffee industry. That was until Luiz Saldanha and his partners captured our imagination. They established Capricornio to breathe new life in five regions in the southern states of Paraná and São Paolo, which until the 1960s, were one of the country's most vibrant coffee producing regions. Due to terrible frosts and the rise of the major coffee regions up north, its production stagnated, leading many coffee farmers to move north, leaving their farms underdeveloped. Now, due to climate change, these regions have become attractive to farmers again, but hardly anyone saw specialty potential.

That is until Capricornio found 20 passionate farmers and started the Four Seasons project: they helped them turn their farms into modern, ecologically sustainable farms and process their coffees to the highest standards. Now, they have started to show what these coffee regions have to offer the specialty coffee world. Because of its uniquely low latitude (around the tropic of Capricorn at 23ºS), coffee here endures more stress while developing. This leads to large, slowly ripened cherries with surprisingly complex cup profiles, similar to what happens at higher altitudes. We were impressed not only by the coffee's cup quality, but by the company's achievements in processing and creating coffees in close cooperation with specialty roasters and experts (such as Aida Battle) worldwide.

This connection to the roaster's world meant there was an immediate click with This Side Up, and since 2017, we've been proud to promote Capricornio in the European market. For the second season, we're co-creating a diverse range of coffees together with roasters from around Europe: from signature blends to exclusive processing experiments and microlots.

Nicaragua

Some of This Side Ups older clients might remember our Nicaraguan single family lots, traceable farm lots that we offered from 2015 to 2018. Sadly, because grave mismanagement of our then export ally, we had to pull out and leave this country which we hold so dear - but it was when Arjan van der Hoek from Bean Brothers introduced us to Rina and René Paguaga that we regained hope. We were immediately drawn to their transparency, care for quality - but most of all, their integrity.

Vidita means "little life" in Spanish and is inspired by how 97 year old founder René senior used to call Rina's and René's mother, Carolina. Their third generation business used to sell all their production to “Big Coffee”, but when Rina got to experience firsthand what actually happened to their carefully harvested and well-nourished coffee, she was shocked: "they were really not paying attention to details. I said to myself: this coffee doesn't represent my country, and we decided to do something about it." Although their estate is more than 60 years old, it was not until 2007 that they became fully independent. Once they broke free, the results became palpable almost immediately when the coffee processed at their mill won several international recognitions and began selling as specialty coffee. "Nicaraguan coffee can be the best in the world," says Rina, "and we really want to offer the best of what this country has to offer, and we believe we're on the right path".

Today, Santa Lucila dry mill and their brand Café Vidita is the heart of the operations of their family's five estates and a gathering center for producers in the region. Besides providing good prices and fair wages for a region where it’s very difficult to make a living, the Paguaga family manages healthy ecosystems and a deeply studied production system. In light of the country’s history, it would have been much easier in their shoes to turn away from coffee production as many others did. Their commitment to it, even in the most extreme circumstances, is admirable to say the least. A partner like this makes us excited about reestablishing This Side Up in our beloved Nicaragua - here’s to new a beginning!