Plowshares Coffee Roasters

When it comes to coffee, having one’s head in the clouds can be a good thing, as evidenced by this beguiling brew from Finca Un Regalo de Díos in Nicaragua. The beans grow at the highest elevation point (1,500 meters) on the farm’s property, right at the beginning of a natural cloud forest. This hyper-specific climate and a stellar roasting job by New York’s Plowshares Coffee Roasters offers a cup of crisp fruit flavors: The coffee’s notes of green apple and lemon are snappy and fresh—which is exactly how we like to start our day.

Sometimes it takes more than a village… it takes land. After being forced fromtheir original home during the 36-year civil war, the 80 families of Guatemala’s IxilA’Achimbal Collective had to carve out a new spot in Trapichitos, with the help of AgrosInternational. But a painfully complex past has given way to a beautifully complex coffee.Nurtured by a close relationship with an American coffee importer and expertly roasted by Plowshares,you can practically taste how dearly the Collective care for their land and, of course,their product: aromas of mulling spices lead into a cup with a round apple cider acidity, atoffee-like sweetness, and a toasted almond finish.