Matagalpa, Nicaragua · 1,200 meters · family-grown since 1951

Coffee from one mountain, one family, and seventy-five harvests.

Grown under native forest shade in the highlands of Matagalpa by the Arauz family since 1951. For the first time, roasted and shipped directly to your door in the United States.

See the coffees Read our story
1951Founded by Ignacio Arauz Cruz and Susana
1,200 mAltitude, under native forest shade
3Generations of the Arauz family on the land
2Awards: international in 2016, national in 2026

You cannot see the coffee from the road. It grows under the trees, between a creek and the old house, the way it has since Ignacio and Susana planted the first rows.

Hacienda La Estrella is a shade-grown farm at 1,200 meters, fifteen kilometers south of Matagalpa. Four varieties, Parainema, Araras, Obatá and Costa Rica 95; three processes, washed, natural and honey; one family, three generations deep.

Walk through the farm

A hand holding a branch of coffee cherries

Six coffees, one farm.

Ordered from the lightest roast to the darkest. All come from the hacienda harvest, roasted in small batches and packed in 12 oz bags, whole bean or ground.

Lucero — bolsa de 12 ozLuceroLight roastHoney, orange blossom, red apple$18.9912 oz View coffee Amanecer — bolsa de 12 ozAmanecerLight-medium roastCaramel, orange peel, milk chocolate$18.9912 oz View coffee Hacienda — bolsa de 12 ozHaciendaMedium roastChocolate, panela, toasted almond$18.9912 oz View coffee Don Ignacio — bolsa de 12 ozDon IgnacioMedium-dark roastDark chocolate, molasses, toasted hazelnut$18.9912 oz View coffee Medianoche — bolsa de 12 ozMedianocheDark roastCocoa, smoked cedar, bittersweet$18.9912 oz View coffee Bolsa Reserva 75 Aniversario, natural premiado, 12 oz75th Anniversary ReserveAward-winning naturalLimited edition$27.9912 oz View coffee
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Bolsa Reserva 75 Aniversario, natural premiado, 12 oz
Limited edition · 75th anniversary

The lot that won Matagalpa, in a bag with the family name.

A natural-process Parainema, dried in the whole cherry and scored 87.68 points to win first place in the Process category at the Best Coffee of Matagalpa 2026 competition. Fruity, sweet, and gone until the next harvest.

87.68points, 2026
Parainemavariety
Naturalprocess
Order the Reserve$27.99 · 12 oz

From the shade of the forest to your cup.

Nothing about this coffee is hurried. The trees that shade it were there before the farm; the hands that pick it have done it for generations.

1

Shade

The coffee grows under native trees. The shade slows the cherry, concentrates its sugars and keeps the soil alive.

2

Hand picking

Only ripe cherries are picked, pass after pass, during the harvest months of the dry season.

3

Washed, natural or honey

Each lot is processed the way that suits it: washed for a clean, sweet cup; honey, with part of the mucilage left on the bean; or natural, dried in the whole cherry, the process that won in 2026.

4

Roasted to order

Green coffee travels from Matagalpa and is roasted in small batches, so each bag reaches you within days of the roast.

The hacienda, on film

A walk through the hacienda.

See the mountain before you taste it.

Filmed at the hacienda with the family: the forest, the plots, the house and the people who pick every cherry by hand. Press play and let the mountain introduce itself.

Explore the farm

Ignacio y Susana Arauz, 1951 Ignacio Arauz entre los cafetales

Our story

In 1951 a young couple planted coffee on a mountain. The mountain is still theirs.

Ignacio Arauz Cruz was already a third-generation coffee grower when he and Susana founded La Estrella. Here the first Caturra in Nicaragua was planted, growers from the whole country came to see the first technified plots, and two awards, sixty years apart, confirmed what the family already knew about its cup.

Two awards, ten years apart.

Both were given to the hacienda, not to a brand: to the land, the varieties and the way the family works them.

What these awards mean

Ernesto Illy International Coffee Award

Gold cup, best lot from Nicaragua. New York, November 1, 2016, alongside producers from nine countries.

Best Coffee of Matagalpa 2026

First place, Process category. Natural Parainema, 87.68 points. That lot is now the 75th Anniversary Reserve.

Antonio Arauz

The family

Antonio Arauz keeps the farm his parents started.

Antonio carries on the family's coffee-growing tradition. He runs the hacienda today, walks the plots in Matagalpa and spends part of the year in Virginia, among many of the families who will drink this coffee. Every bag on this site is coffee from his harvest, with his name behind it.

Coffee that arrives on its own.

Choose a coffee and a delivery rhythm: every two, four or six weeks. Subscriptions get 10% off every shipment, and you can pause or change your coffee whenever you like.

Choose your coffee
Every 2, 4 or 6 weeks10% off every shipment. Pause or change anytime.
Bundles of three and six bagsMix roasts in one box and save 10%.
Free shipping on subscriptionsWithin the United States, on every recurring order.

Questions people ask us

Where do you ship?

To every address in the United States. Orders leave within two business days of being placed.

Whole bean or ground?

Both. Each coffee comes whole bean or ground for drip and pour-over. Whole bean keeps its aroma longer; if you have a grinder, we recommend it.

Is all the coffee from the hacienda?

Yes. Every bag is coffee grown and harvested at Hacienda La Estrella, in Matagalpa, Nicaragua. We do not blend coffee from other farms.

How fresh is the roast?

We roast in small batches and ship within days of the roast. Each bag has a one-way valve so the coffee can rest without going stale.

Can I visit the farm?

The family receives visitors by appointment. Write to us and we will arrange a date.

Write to us

For orders, wholesale, cafés and restaurants, or a visit to the hacienda.

info@haciendalaestrella.com

Or use the contact form

The hacienda house and mill from the air