Bendaña McEwan S.A. — Our Family's Dry Mill in Matagalpa, Nicaragua

Bendaña McEwan S.A. — operating as Beneficio de Café San Miguel Arcángel, the family's dry mill on the Managua–Matagalpa highway.

Coffee from El Quetzal Estate does not leave the family after harvest. It travels a few kilometres down the road to San Miguel Arcángel, the beneficio seco — dry mill — that the Bendaña McEwan family built to control what happens to the coffee after picking.

That is unusual. Most specialty coffee changes hands at least once between the farm and the exporter, and each handover is a point where lot identity blurs. Ours does not: the same family that grows the coffee also dries, hulls, sorts and exports it. When we tell you which parcel a lot came from, that is a record, not an estimate.

What the mill does

  • Drying — patio and raised-bed natural drying, plus mechanical box drying when the weather turns
  • Hulling & sorting — dry hulling followed by electronic sorting to a consistent screen and defect count
  • Roasting & grinding — for lots destined for local and regional customers
  • Export logistics — twenty years of shipping experience, and the paperwork that goes with it

Varietals processed

SHG, Geisha, Caturra, Catimor, Yellow Catuaí, Pachisol, Java, Villa Sarchí and Parainema — the same varietals you will find in our green coffee offering.

Where the coffee goes

The mill exports to Japan, Russia, the United States, Denmark and Norway. El Quetzal Coffee Co. handles the United States — sourcing, warehousing and direct relationships with roasters. If you are buying from us, this is the facility your coffee passed through.

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