AgroEco Nicaragua: Full Of Flavor And Goodness

The Drink: AgroEco Nicaragua
Type: Co-op Whole Bean/Pre-Ground
Overall Rating: See Below

Today’s coffee is AgroEco Nicaragua. It’s a project of the Community Agroecology Network (CAN), an international organization that helps rural communities in Mexico and Central America develop self-sufficiency and sustainable farming practices. They work towards increasing tropical biodiversity, enhancing food security and community resilience to climate change, improving farmers’ livelihood, and direct relationship between producer and consumer.

There was lots of information about the project on the bag, on the literature that came in the mail with the bag and on their website. However, not much about the coffee. It’s a great cause and they’re doing great work, but I’ll admit that I was a little worried…at first.

My fears continued when I opened up the bag. One of the few things that the label does say about the actual coffee is that it’s a light roast, however, the beans looked a lot more like they were a medium roast, maybe even darker.

My worries faded away after I took in some of the aroma. It was a mix of grapefruit, mild chocolate, some nuttiness and hints of black pepper. It was the kind of aroma that made me sit back and enjoy the experience.

When it came to the taste, it overwhelmed my taste buds. I had to take more than a few sips before I could start to identify what I was tasting. It’s a problem to have.

I picked up on grapefruit, that mild chocolate again, a woody flavor, an almost tart like flavor and spiciness in the back end. It was a lot going on, but it mixed together to make an enjoyable cup of coffee.

I had nothing to worry about, it turned out to be a great coffee. It earned a solid 3.75.0 on the Daily Shot Of Coffee scale, however not too long after I taste tested the first bag they emailed me to tell me that they wanted to send me another bag of the same coffee. The difference was that this one was going to be a true light roast.

I couldn’t wait to try it…until I saw that they sent me a bag that was pre-ground. I opened the bag and it did still smell full of flavor, but I knew that it was going to be stale. The problem is that pre-ground coffee goes starts to lose it’s flavor qualities and characteristics within fifteen minutes of being ground, that’s why it’s important to have a coffee grinder.

But I wasn’t going to let it stop me from trying to this version of the coffee.

This version of the AgroEco Nicaragua had a nutty aroma with a honey sweetness around the edges. It was good, but the aromas smelled muted.

The taste also was a little toned down. There was a nutty flavor up front, that overwhelmed every other flavor. I did pick up on hints of honey, grapefruit and a little bit of spiciness left on my tongue afterward. It was good, but I felt like there could’ve been more to it.

Overall, it was acceptable, but not great. It earned a 3.25 on the Daily Shot Of Coffee scale. I would suggest picking up a bag of the whole bean, I imagine with the true light roast it would be a pretty great coffee. Plus, it does help out a good cause and the coffee farmers earn more than they would even with Fair Trade.

You can find a pound of AgroEco Nicaragua in both whole bean and ground for $14.95 on their website.
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Fine Print.

Category: Coffee Reviews