Located in the Dipilto region of Nicaragua, El Árbol was purchased by Project Origin founder Sasa Sestic and other producers in 2016 with the goal of turning an overgrown, commodity coffee farm into a place of research and experimentation.
Hosted by El Árbol co-producer, Claudia Lovo, the Nicaragua ‘Farm Experience’ course aims to educate coffee professionals and enthusiasts on the process of coffee planting, growing, processing and grading from farm to cup.
Project Origin General Manager, Habib Marbaani says that the course focuses not only on practical farming and processing, but on the community aspect of coffee farming.
“This course is perfect if you’ve ever wanted to get hands on and learn exactly what happens as coffee goes from being a seedling to a tree,” he said.
“But you also get to experience coffee from a cherry to a green bean, and give back to a coffee farming community in the process.”
Finca El Árbol is a unique farm that is heavily focused on creating great coffee, while also nurturing the workers at the farm and the community around them. Unlike many farms, El Árbol employs their workers full-time all year round rather than just getting casual labour at harvest times.
Workers are also housed and fed at the farm, as well as given opportunities to further their education in language, literacy, numeracy and computers by having private tutors brought to the farm regularly.
Successful applicants for the Farm Experience course will also learn about new innovations and experiments taking place at El Árbol, including carbonic maceration processing and experimental drying techniques.
For more information, click here.
What: An origin trip that will give you an overall understanding of coffee farming, including processing methods and their risks, good agricultural practices, milling and traceability.
When: Exact dates to be confirmed, but tentatively the 5-day course will run in mid-December, or mid- to end of January depending on guest preferences. The course is 5 days at the farm, not including travel to and from Nicaragua.
Where: The trip will take place in Nueva Segovia region, well known for producing much of the best coffees in Nicaragua (80% of the winners of Cup of Excellence belong to this region).
Who: Roasters, baristas, coffee buyers and enthusiasts… anybody who wants to know more about coffee farming.
Cost: The course fee is US$1,500 and 50% of this goes directly to El Árbol.
Register: Email [email protected] by 29th October
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We acknowledge the Traditional Owners of the land on which we work, the Ngunnawal people. We pay our respects to elders past, present and emerging.
