El Quetzal Coffee Co.

Finca El Quetzal sits in the highlands above Matagalpa, Nicaragua, where the Bendaña McEwan family has farmed since 1947. Four generations in, the estate is now run by Ana Bendaña McEwan, daughter of Dr. Frank Bendaña, alongside her husband Justin Sieve, with the family staying involved from planting and picking through drying, grading and export rather than handing the farm off to hired management. What distinguishes the farm is varietal range rather than volume: alongside the workhorse Caturra and Villa Sarchi, El Quetzal grows Geisha and Laurina, two varieties prized for delicacy over yield, plus Java, Pacamara and Yellow Catuai, all grown under shade and processed washed. The company sells both directions of that spectrum, roasted beans for drinking and green beans for roasters, through its own online store, with sample packs and wholesale lots aimed as much at home roasters as at cafes. Roasting itself is contracted to a trusted outside partner, keeping the family's direct involvement concentrated on the farm rather than the roast profile. The business is also in the middle of a domestic push, building presence in St. Louis and the San Francisco Bay Area, evidence of a fourth-generation estate coffee still actively finding new US markets rather than resting on an established one.