Mario Esquivel
Born in 1920, Don Juan Bautista Esquivel Reyes, who was raised in León, Nicaragua, worked as the administrator of a coffee estate located in Datanlí, Jinotega. After spending a few years as an administrator, Don Juan Bautista bought a parcel of land nearby his workplace. The land was later inherited to his 3 sons and 2 daughters. His son, Don Filadelfo Francisco Esquivel Rivera began planting coffee in 1961 on his 6 manzanas lot, named after the neighborhood in which his grandfather grew up in León, Saragoza. In 1994, Mario César Esquivel bought 2 manzanas from his father Filadelfo and through hard work and dedication, he continues his great grandfather’s legacy.
Mario Esquivel is a young coffee producer who has made the commitment to transition from commercial to specialty coffee. He and his father have been producing coffee for 27 years and have assisted in developing their community by building a school and providing well paying, sustainable jobs to the people who live near their farm. This was the first year Mario has experimented with processing his coffees in new ways, other than the traditional washed process and the cupping scores have been outstanding. We’re incredibly grateful for our partnership with the Esquivel family and are very excited for what the future holds.
Finca Saragoza is located 1100 meters above sea level within the Natural Reserve of Cerro El Diablo-Dantali in Jinotega, Nicaragua. The farm is packed with incredibly sweet Red Catuai plants and recently, a new variety was discovered on the farm which they named Chirizo. The Chirizo variety has very distinct branches; though the plot is small, Mario has harvested and processed the coffee to use in his new energy drink line named @chirizocoffeeco which will be available soon across Nicaragua. Don’t miss out on an opportunity to try this delicious drink hand crafted in the mountains of Jinotega.