Coffee, Chocolate, and Pinolillo

Tuesday morning marked the half way point of our trip as we began day 6.  While we lay asleep in our bed, even before the sun began to lighten our surroundings, we were awoken to the sound of howler monkeys making their presence known in the distance.  If you’ve never heard a howler monkey it is a pretty incredible sound.  From a distance it sounds like a deafening roar echoing throughout the mountains.  If you are lucky enough to hear one in front of you, you realize their throat itself creates a resonating echoey sound.  Though they are certainly a very loud animal, the way in which their growl reverberates in their throat makes them sound even larger and more ominous when heard from a distance.

We tried to sleep through the jungle’s alarm clock for a few more hours, and then got ourselves up and ready for breakfast and the day’s adventures.  As we left our bungalow we were greeted by refreshingly cool mountain air that was only about 70 degrees (F) for our short walk to the restaurant.  The Selva Negra resort sat at roughly 1200 meters above sea level--quite a bit higher elevation than even Matagalpa only 10 miles to the south, which sits at 700 meters above sea level.   The cooler air at this elevation provided a nice break for a few days from the heat of the lower lying areas of the country.

Since we were staying for several days in this resort, and we now had a good bit of laundry that was sweat soaked, we brought several bags to the front desk and requested laundry service.  They told us they would be ready by 2:00pm.  We then went and sat down for breakfast. The restaurant was a covered open air dining room alongside a medium sized pond that sat at the base of a mountain ridge rising another 350 meters behind the restaurant. 

Ten minutes later, I realized I never gave the desk my name with my laundry.  I ran over to the desk hoping that the woman was still there. She was.  I reminded her I just dropped off the laundry but forgot to give her my name.  She smiled, and said “We know who you are Mr. Ziemann.”  I was taken a back.  While the resort isn’t huge, it could certainly accommodate several dozen people---enough that I didn’t think they’d remember who I was.  It made me realize the same thing happened when we first arrived at Punta Teonoste and had a couple drinks and I went to the bar to close the tab and tell him what cabana number we were, and Gary the bartender already knew.  Similarly, at Paz de Luna we didn’t need to tell the kitchen what room we were.  They knew.  I’ve certainly experienced some customer service in developing countries such as Nicaragua that I’ve never experienced in the US. It reminded me of the ultimate in name recognition I experienced in my first trip to New Delhi, staying in the Grand Hyatt, a very large hotel, where every person I walked past in the hotel greeted me by name when I was on just a one night visit.

Breakfast at Selva Negra

We sat and enjoyed a very leisurely breakfast (too leisurely given our 8:30am appointment for our tour) sipping our first cups of local Nicaraguan coffee.  It was fairly tasty, though not as full bodied as the Starbucks that Aimee and I typically enjoy.

After enjoying our breakfast, it was difficult to tear ourselves away from the serenity of the scenery around us to head back to the city for our 8 hour chocolate and coffee tour.  However, we were about 20 minutes behind our schedule, and were going to be struggling to get to the tour office in time.

Selva Negra Pond outside the Restaurant

We gathered up our gear for the day, and jumped in the car for the drive down the winding mountain roads to the city.  We were running a bit late, and as we got into the city, and attempted to navigate the narrow corridors of its near vertical streets, we came to stopped traffic.  We could see a large semi about 6 cars ahead of us attempting to back into a narrow alley way that looked just wide enough for the width of the truck.  Backing up a truck seems like it would be a challenge in the most open of environments, but here the driver had to try and back his truck up with incredible precision to get it perpendicular to the main road exactly at the point where the back of the truck could slip into an open gate.  To make it even more difficult, the uneven terrain along the edge of the road pitched the top of the truck at various angles at risk of knocking down the top of the fence.  We sat for about 3-4 minutes watching the operation. It took only two attempts at backing up to get it lined up with the gate. I was impressed.

We arrived at the office of Matagalpa Tours within 5 minutes of our scheduled tour, and were thrilled to find out that indeed Jose, our guide from the night before, was again going to be our guide for today also. The tour was one of the first things we booked, and was one that we were most excited about, entitled "The Creation of Pinolillo: Coffee and Mocha Tour.” This was an eight our tour through a chocolate factory, coffee plantations, and something about a local drink called Pinolillo.  They had us at chocolate and coffee.  We weren’t entirely sure what to expect but we dressed in hiking clothes expecting we’d probably be doing some walking around out among nature. 

Jose brought us out to a car that was waiting for us and introduced us to the driver, a clean cut young man with chiseled features in his late twenties or early thirties. As we drove out of the Northeastern edge of Matagalpa, we drove through the northern market.  This stretch of road was crammed with hundreds of people walking in and out of stalls selling produce, fresh meat hanging from rafters, coffee, and anything else one could desire for daily living.  Once we made it through this sea of humanity, the road opened up and we drove just a short distance to the outskirts of Matagalpa.  Our driver parked the car, and we jumped out and walked into the reception area of Castillo del Cacao.

Castillo de Cacao Gift Shop

Inside the building was a small table of various chocolates for sale.  Around it were multiple cabinets that provided a bit of a museum of chocolate.  Jose walked us through the various items illustrating the wide ranging uses of chocolate and its derivatives from candy, to cooking, more unusual items such as a can of AXE Chocolate scented body spray, and chocolate flavored condoms.  These were not available in this store, but were just provided as context to the chocolate industry.  Jose explained the history of the factory and that it was started by a Dutchman and had a mission of providing a place of employment primarily for single mothers in the area.  He further explained that the focus of the factory is really on local employment and revenue generated from the tourist market, as locals generally don’t have much of a taste for chocolate, and it is too expensive for many of them anyway. 

Castillo de Cacao

Grinding Cocoa Beans

Jose took us through each of the sections of the small factory.  First he showed us the cacao bean roasters.  Having been on a tour in Nashville of a coffee factory, I immediately recognized the roasters as being essentially the same machine as those for coffee. From there he showed us the tools that used to be used to Flor de Caña, Nicaragua’s very own rum that was used in some of their creations, however Jose didn’t let us sample this.
grind cocoa beans by hand and gave us an opportunity to try. This was followed by seeing the machine that now grinds them automatically.  From there it was on the really exciting room where the ground chocolate was processed into chocolate in varying percentages of cacao.  To make it really exciting there was even a bottle of

Waiting for us in the center of the room however was a bowl of cashews and small bit of freshly made chocolate.  Aimee, myself, and Jose lingered for quite a while munching on this.  Most of the chocolate made in this factory was very high percentage cacao chocolate, giving it a very rich, deep, dark taste. 

After seeing the process, we were brought back to the reception area/gift store/museum where Jose led us to a seating area.  Here we were provided with a small tray with two cups of coffee, and a bit of chocolate to enjoy with it. 

While we were relaxing and enjoying our chocolate, an older couple walked into the door in their late 50s or early 60s.  After looking around, they came and sat next to us and we talked a bit.  From their accents, I asked hesitantly if they were English, however, as soon as I asked, I thought I was probably wrong.  Sure enough they were from New Zealand.  I apologized and said I should have recognized the difference as I lived next to a Kiwi for 10 years when I lived outside of Chicago.  

Coffee and Chocolate

The couple was on a three-month trip, touring multiple countries in South America and Central America.   They talked about their trip which they were pretty much taking day by day, travelling mostly on public busses etc. from place to place.  They did say they spent a good deal of time moving along the pacific coast to multiple locations attempting to see the Arrivadas of the turtles.  We relayed our adventure seeking the turtles, lamenting that we didn’t get to see any.  They however did have some success and saw a few, although not the mass flotillas that occasionally can be seen. 

Aimee and I each fantasized verbally of having the time and resources to just wander a continent or two, following our daily whims for 3 months, with few time constraints or worry about schedules.  Perhaps someday…however we were snapped back to reality as Jose appeared somewhat hovering next to us trying to give the clear message of “it’s time to move on to the next part of the tour.”

Coffee and Chocolate Break

We bought some chocolate to bring back as souvenirs (and of course some to keep for ourselves…which may have had some Flor de Caña in them), and then headed back to the vehicle.

We were now off for the coffee part of our tour.  As we headed deeper into the countryside, Jose had our driver stop at a bit of a picturesque vantage point.  While we were admiring the view, I started thinking about all the coffee I drink.  If you spend enough time in the most common of the trendy US coffee shops, you’ll notice they do a lot of patting themselves on the back about fair trade coffee, social responsibility, and ethical sourcing.  I was curious what the local view of that was.  I asked Jose his thoughts.  He hesitated, and said “Do you want the truth?”  He went on to say that while they’ve certainly brought employment opportunities, that when it comes to fair trade, and providing good benefits to the farmers, they are somewhat lacking.  It was interesting that this was a common theme among business, from the cigar factory, to the chocolate factory, to the coffee industry.  There certainly seems to be a moral standard for employers to offer good benefits to their employees, in addition to simply a salary.  Clearly among coffee brewers, the largest of the US market was not at the top of the list in terms of good benefits for Nicaraguan farmers and workers.

We continued onward a bit further to the small village of La Corona (not to be confused with the cigar

Living Room

factory by the same name that we visited in Estelí).  We pulled up to a modest brick house in the village, parked, and went in.  On the front porch was a large table.  Nearby sat an elderly gentleman talking to some other men around our age.  Jose told us that before we headed out to the coffee tour we were going to be treated to some freshly made Pinolillo and lunch.  He introduced us to the woman that lived in the house named Juana. Her family worked on the coffee plantation, and attached to her house were actually two very basic rooms that could be rented for $5 a night, for visitors that wanted a deeper immersion into life on a coffee plantation. 

This was a fascinating moment for me.  As we had spent 6 days driving through villages and seeing the houses along the side of the road, which provided very different living conditions than the US, we were very curious to see what they looked like on the inside.  We had no idea that we’d be invited into one such home today, and allowed to help prepare Pinolillo.  We walked through the living room of the home, which had exposed brick walls with some pictures on them.  The living room contained a few rocking chairs, a dirt floor, and a small TV.  Past the living room, we walked through an indoor kitchen that had some wood and glass cabinets on the exposed brick wall, a table, and some counters for preparing food.  We continued through this room to an outdoor, though covered, kitchen with a large wood burning stove, that was lit.  Along the far end of this area was a sink which drained directly into an drainage ditch/open sewer around the outside of the house.

The Outdoor Kitchen

Here Jose and Juana showed us how corn and cacao beans are roasted to make pinolillo.  After roasting
these together on the wood burning stove, Jose then pulled out some cloves, fresh cinnamon sticks, and cumin.  The combination of all of these were put into a hand grinder.  Jose began grinding the mixture by hand, and was clearly exerting a lot of effort. I asked if I could help him out, and he assured me I had a turn coming.  After a few minutes he handed the job over to me. For 5-10 minutes I continued the tedious job of grinding the mixture together into a coarse powder.  Aimee took a turn as well, and I realized I was breaking quite a sweat.  After what seemed like way too long of a time to be preparing a simple drink we finally had everything ground.  Jose offered the bowl up to us to smell, and the smell was quite intriguing, and we were both excited to try it.

Roasting the Pinolillo

Ryan Helping Grind the Pinolill

Jose brought us back out to the table and had us sit down.  A few moments later, he came out with cups of steaming liquid and offered us each our very own Pinolillo to taste.  The flavor was not overpowering, but was complex with the various spices mixed into the concoction.  It reminded me a bit of horchata except warm and slightly chocolatey. 

While we were enjoying this, Jose and Juana began bringing out plates of all sorts of food, and a pitcher of fresh lemonade.  Jose preemptively assured us that all the drinks/dishes were made with purified water, and we didn’t need to worry about them.  Within a few minutes, we were surrounded by fried chicken, fried potato dumplings, rice, beans, and tomato salad.  Jose and our driver sat and joined us for a very tasty lunch. 

Lunchtime with Jose and our Driver

We had yet to even set foot on the coffee plantation, but already my day had been made by this awesome experience of spending time in a local home, cooking with a local family, and breaking bread with our new acquaintances.  This was awesome.  

The Corn Princess Showing off her Flower

After lunch was finished, a young girl in her late teens, whom I believe was Juana’s daughter arrived, and was to take us on the tour of the plantation.  She did not speak English though she spoke a fairly slow and crisp Spanish that I was able to understand fairly well. Nonetheless, Jose translated for us.   She wore a flower in her hair, and told us that they had a big festival at school that morning and she was voted the “corn princess.” 

As we toured the plantation, we saw how involved water management is in the process.  Jose explained that one of the downsides of coffee is that its production uses massive amounts of water, and that it ends up polluting the water.  As a result they’ve built into the process all sorts of methods of filtering the used water through the ground by storing it in pits in the ground to filter the organic waste material out of the water.

Additionally various vats or “pilas” are set up as reservoirs to capture the natural sources of water coming down the mountainside.  In order to get to the plantation, we had to cross one of these.  This pila had a 12 inch thick cement wall with about 4-5 feet deep water behind it fed from a stream.  This wall was about 15 feet long,

and had about an inch of water pouring over the top of it, and a 4 foot drop below into a stream that continued down the mountain.  Jose said we would need to cross this.  Aimee was a bit concerned about falling in or falling off.  Jose attempted to help by creating stepping stones on the wall, above the level of the running water.  These however ended up being more in the way than helping, and we cautiously walked across the top of the wall without their aid.

Shade Grown Coffee Plants

The plantation continued in many directions up and along the side of the mountains.  The coffee cherries are grown in the shade, so in and around all the coffee plants planted in perfect rows, are taller trees, banana plants, and other things that provide shade.  Also, these trees provide other crops that can provide an
economic safety net if there is a sudden drop in the price of coffee. 

Jose and the young girl explained the various levels of details that are considered in planting, cultivating, and harvesting the cherries, and keeping the plants healthy for multiple years.  From the fields we went to the pulping and fermenting building, and viewed the cement ducts and pilas where the fermented coffee was rinsed. 

Coffee Cherry and Bean

After the tour, we returned back to Juana’s house and had a cup of coffee and relaxed for a bit.  This gave us a bit of an opportunity to talk more with the rest of the family.  At one point the elderly man began talking

Ryan, Jose, and Ryan's new Friend

to me in Spanish.  He had the softspoken, raspy and mumbly voice typical of anyone that’s got 7 or 8 decades of experience at life.  I had an extremely difficult time understanding him, but we continued to try and talk nonetheless.  We talked a little bit about my family, and he talked a lot about his aches and pains.  At one point, he turned to one of the other younger men sitting in the area, and told them (in Spanish of course) that he had a new friend to talk to.

Aimee and Her New Friend

After our cup of coffee here, Jose and our driver took us back into the city of Matagalpa, to stop at a trendy local coffee shop (that catered to foreigners), that had an extensive menu of coffee drinks.  Aimee and I each had a refreshing frozen mocha drink, and talked with Jose.

Capybara!

We asked if he lived in Matagalpa.  He smiled and said that in Nicaragua, the big cities are where mostly the richer people live.  He then said that he however lives out in one of the villages outside of town.  

After our last coffee drink for the day, he took us back to the office, which was only a few minutes away.  We thanked him for being such a great companion over the last couple of days, wished him well, and bid him our final farewell.

We jumped back in our car to head back to Selva Negra to get cleaned up and grab dinner.  On the way
into our lodge, Aimee’s day turned even brighter as she looked over and about 50 feet away saw a capybara standing apprehensively in the lawn in front of one of the other lodges.  Her eyes opened wide like a kid in her favorite candy store as she tried to contain her excitement so as to not scare it away, but still get my attention and point it out to me.  After only a few moments however the capybara scampered off into the surrounding foliage.

Later we returned to the restaurant for dinner.  The restaurant had several Nicaraguan micro-brews from Erdmann’s I was excited to try these and throughout the evening tried one after another.  It began raining at one point, and we had to move from our table near the edge of the covered restaurant to a table further in.  30 minutes and a beer or two later, it began raining harder, and we had to move further in.  A couple beers later, and Aimee decided she was tired of watching me sample all the beers of Nicaragua and threatened to return to the room without me.  I decided that it was probably in my best interest to join her, so I quickly finished the beer in my hand and accompanied her back to our bungalow

Our Dinner View (before the rain)