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The Coffee Atlas
Nicaragua Madriz
Madriz is a small coffee department in northwest Nicaragua. Sourced altitude, Caturra notes and two Coffee Review lots scoring 90 and 93, from 2004 and 2010.
Flavor profile
avg. of 2 published reviewsScale: 1-10, Coffee Review / SCA-classic-form convention. Averaged from 2 independently published, dated Coffee Review scores of Madriz lots: Nicaragua Madriz Jose Alfredo Zeledon Cooperative (Terroir Select Coffees, November 2004, 93 points, Caturra, medium roast) and Nicaragua Rio Coco (True Beans Coffee Roasters, October 2010, 90 points, medium-dark roast). The two are 6 years apart and roasted very differently, so this describes a narrow slice of what published lots reach, not a typical cup. A third Madriz review, the 2006 Terroir Coffee Cup of Excellence espresso, was left out because it reports a With Milk score instead of an Acidity score. Small-N, lot-level average; individual lots vary by farm, variety, process and roast.
What it tastes like
Madriz is a small department in Nicaragua’s northwest, with Somoto as its capital. The competition lots on record cluster around 1,200 to 1,300 meters, mostly Caturra, washed and sun dried, and one cooperative listing describes hand harvesting from November to March.
The best-scored review is a 2004 lot from the Jose Alfredo Zeledon Cooperative, which scored 93 with peach in the aroma, cherry in the cup and an acidity that sweetens as it cools. A 2006 Cup of Excellence espresso added flowers, orange and dry-toned peach over a smooth, substantial mouthfeel.
A 2010 medium-dark roast tells a different story: malty earth, cedary dark chocolate and a lemony lift, which the reviewer likened to a brighter Sumatra. Roast and lot matter more here than the department name, and the sample is old and small, so read current offerings on their own terms.
How to brew it
Method fit for this origin · editorial guidance from roaster convention
Filter brewing keeps the clean stone-fruit and gentle citrus described in the lighter-roasted lots easy to read.
The 2006 Madriz espresso review praised its balance, but that was one roaster's blend of a competition lot, not a rule for the origin.
Immersion suits the medium body, though it will blur the delicate fruit notes.
⚠ Fit tiers are editorial guidance drawn from roaster convention; no industry standard scores brew fit, so we show tiers, never invented numbers. Reflects brew guidance commonly published by specialty roasters for washed Central American Caturra lots, not an SCA-defined standard.
Altitude & region
Growing elevation, meters above sea level · this entry vs comparison bands
Madriz's band comes from three Cup of Excellence farm listings, so treat it as indicative, not a department-wide measurement. Jinotega and Matagalpa reuse the ranges already published in this Atlas's own Nicaragua Jinotega and Nicaragua Matagalpa entries, shown for scale only.
Caffeine content
Caffeine by dry weight · each gold dot = 0.1%
Caffeine content tracks species far more than origin, altitude, or processing: Arabica runs roughly 1.2% against about 2.2% for Robusta. This entry is Arabica; no credible per-origin caffeine figure exists at a category level, so nothing here is a measurement of this specific lot.
Where to buy it
Transparency: some links on this site are affiliate links; if you buy through them we may earn a commission at no cost to you. Roasters are picked for genuine, current sourcing of this coffee, never for who pays us.
Green coffee merchant that bought a Madriz Cup of Excellence lot in 2006 per the auction record; check the shop for current Nicaraguan offerings.
View lot→Specialty roaster listed among buyers of a Madriz lot in the 2005 Cup of Excellence auction; check the shop for what is current.
View lot→Specialty roaster listed among buyers of a Madriz lot in the 2005 auction; Madriz lots are not guaranteed to be current, so check the shop.
View lot→Wide single-origin selection in one place; check roast dates, Madriz or 100%-origin labeling, and seller reviews before buying.
View lot→Sources & data
- Coffee Review: Nicaragua Madriz Jose Alfredo Zeledon Cooperative, Terroir Select Coffees (November 2004)93 points; Aroma 8, Acidity 8, Body 8, Flavor 9, Aftertaste 9; Caturra, about 3,800 ft (1 of 2 averaged)
- Coffee Review: Nicaragua Rio Coco, True Beans Coffee Roasters (October 2010)90 points; Aroma 8, Acidity 8, Body 8, Flavor 8, Aftertaste 8; Madriz, medium-dark roast (2 of 2 averaged)
- Coffee Review: Nicaragua Madriz Cup of Excellence Single Origin Espresso, Terroir Coffee (May 2006)92 points; not averaged (reports With Milk instead of Acidity); source of the espresso tasting notes cited in the body
- Alliance for Coffee Excellence: San Antonio, Telpaneca, Madriz (2006)1,200 m, Caturra, washed and sun dried
- Alliance for Coffee Excellence: Coop. Luis Alberto Vasquez, Somoto, Madriz (2005)1,300 m, Caturra, wet process and sun dried; auction buyers named
- Alliance for Coffee Excellence: Coop. Jose Alfredo Zeledon, San Juan del Rio Coco, Madriz (2008)1,275 m, Caturra and Bourbon, harvest November to March