La Picona is a family farm located in a region well-known for the quality of its coffee: Nueva Segovia, Nicaragua. There, Olga and Salatiel manage the farm along with their son Samuel, who has taken over the reins.

To speak of La Picona is to do so with special affection, as Nicaragua was the first coffee-growing country we visited back in 2010 and the Zavala family was the first to agree to develop experimentation in coffee processes with us, achieving year after year an increase in the quality of their lots that has led them to be winners of the Cup of Excellence twice.

Following their latest award in 2021 with the batch called “Picona COE #2”, we wanted to ask Olga González and her son Samuel Zavala some questions so they could tell us a little more about their coffees.

What is the story of La Picona and how many years have you been dedicated to this estate?

Olga: This farm was acquired in 2002 by the Zavala Gonzalez family. It was all mountainous back then, and we started working with 2 hectares of coffee in 2005. Since then, we've gradually expanded, and today we have 8 hectares of coffee, which is what we're currently working with.

What can you tell us about the “Picona COE #2” lot of the Maracaturra variety that won the 2021 Cup of Excellence?

Samuel: The “Picona COE #2” lot , winner of the 2021 Cup of Excellence, is a lot developed with a special recipe, based on the 'Honey Glory' recipe that we developed in conjunction with Right Side Coffee many years ago. This lot was handled differently from harvesting to fermentation and drying. It was a lot we thought would go very far—perhaps not to the second place in the Cup of Excellence—but we were fortunate and blessed to achieve this distinction as the Presidential Coffee within the Cup of Excellence.

How did the rust (fungus) outbreak affect your crops in 2012? Has it had any impact on subsequent harvests?

Olga: The truth is, it was a huge blow that ultimately affected not only us and our community, but all of Nicaragua. The problem impacted us by 70%, reducing our harvests. It's a fungus that continues to harm our coffee plantations.

What did it mean for your family to have an award-winning coffee at the Cup of Excellence?

Olga: It wasn't just one award we won, but two: at the 2015 Cup of Excellence and the 2021 Cup of Excellence. We work together as a family, and for us, it's been a real achievement to know that we have excellent coffees, so we're going to keep striving to maintain our current quality. We believe that the coffees we have are the best in the country and even in the world (laughs).

Why do you think there's increased market interest in higher quality coffees?

Samuel: Personally, I think the increased interest in specialty coffee is due to cultural factors, knowledge, and social responsibility. More and more people are learning about the origin of coffee and the effort producers put into producing quality coffee. The social responsibility aspect also stems from the ability to support the people and producers behind each project, and the cultural aspect is that people are becoming more familiar with what specialty coffee truly is. I believe this interest will continue to grow.

What has it been like for you to work hand in hand with Right Side creating unique and experimental batches?

Samuel: Working hand in hand with Right Side has been a unique experience. We are incredibly grateful to you for being one of the first companies to trust in our product. You were the first company we worked with and developed the experiments with, and it served as a foundation for all the fermentation experiments we conduct with our varieties today on our family farms.

What future projection do you see for the "La Picona" farm?

Samuel - As a family, we have quite a big vision for La Picona, but the challenges aren't easy. We face many adverse conditions, such as the weather: we're hit hard by the wind, we've had problems with climate change, and the soils are very sandy, which makes it very difficult to produce on this farm, although we remain positive.

We are planting more varieties besides Maracaturra, some exotic varieties that we can offer to roasters like yourselves in the coming years. We are committed to a sustainable model that balances nature and coffee production, perhaps aiming for quality over large quantities, so we are very happy and excited to see what the next few years will bring.

At Right Side, we wish the Zavala family continued success. They are a model of a family farm with strong environmental values ​​and a focus on the quality of their coffees, and we look forward to continuing our collaboration with them for many years to come. Our menu will always feature the legendary lots from La Picona, prepared with our own experimental processes: Honey Glory and Natural Mystic.

This year the Zavala family wanted to share with us part of the “Picona COE #2” lot, winner of the 2021 Cup of Excellence, so we thought it was the best time to offer it to those subscribers of the Experience Subscription for the month of October because of its complex profile full of nuances, fruit and honey.