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NICARAGUA my hopes up that once we made the trek into the mountains rust disease would be less of a threat. We made our way down to the co-op's office where we picked up general manager Fredman Vásquez, general manager of the co-op. We headed to Las Sabanas, where we would tour a few of the small farms belonging to members of the co-op. Their first harvest was a good start at 37,000 pounds, which is roughly one container of green coffee. After the co-op received funding from Fabretto in 2009, the members were able to build an office, which includes a sample roaster and a cupping room. In addition, the donation funded the employment of a full-time cupper and administrative staffers. These steps were crucial to the organization and growth of their operation. Cinco de Junio now produces around six containers of coffee per year, which amounts to 222,000 pounds. Interested in connecting the co-op with a buyer for Cinco de Junio, Fabretto sent samples to Counter Culture. Kim, being a seasoned coffee buyer, receives an obscene amount of samples. Sadly, most are duds. However, when Kim cupped Fabretto's sample, her curiosity was stirred. She traveled to Nicaragua a few months later to find that Cinco de Junio's clean, sweet flavors were no fluke. That was back in 2009, and since then, her relationship with the co-op has strengthened to produce a captivating variety separation lot of Maragojipe. The first farm we toured was Jilgueros, owned by Francisco Palma Vanegas, a member of the co-op since its founding. With machete in hand, Fransisco led us through a dense forest, which provided ample shade for growing coffee. We made our way through the vegetation, and suddenly were surrounded by assorted varieties of coffee plants. From where we stood, we could see Typica, Caturra, Yellow Catuai, and even the gigantic Maragojipe. I plucked a blood-red cherry from a tall plant and popped it in 38 barista magazine An example of coffee-leaf rust, an airborne fungus that is devastating Arabica coffee across Central America. To learn more about it, see Chad Trewick's article on page 78. my mouth. The thin skin of the cherry was savory—like Tobasco—and the thin layer of pulp that surrounded the seed reminded me of a honeydew melon. When I examined the large round seed, I realized that I had scored a rare Margojipe peaberry, and was immediately thankful that we had taken the time to review the characteristics of each plant variety the day before with Kim, Lydia, and Hannah. My bliss began to fade as we saw more examples of trees plagued by coffee-leaf rust. The affected trees were mostly older, and the fungus had stripped them, rendering them spindly and leafless. They did, however, still have many cherries on them: Trees affected with rust can still produce green cherry, but the fruit tends to remain green until it rots. As we looked at the stricken trees, Fredman explained that in the 1980s the region had suffered a devastating outbreak of leaf rust. Farmers, thinking that exposure to the sun would help to wipe out the fungus, cut back all of their shade plants. Sadly, the opposite was true: Rust thrives in warmer temperatures. As these temperatures become more prevalent due the human influence on global climate change, rust has expanded its influence into areas where it was previously unknown, and tightens its grasp on regions already affected. The last farm we visited in Los Sabanas was called El Hizote, and was owned by a couple named Melba and Fransisco. The farm stretches over four manzanas (one manzana is equal to 1.68 acres), and is nestled in the arms of the mountains at an altitude of 1,500 meters. The air here was so thin that it seemed almost empty. I was completely out of breath by the time I reached the farm. Melba, however, glided swiftly up the slopes, squeezing