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Costa Rica Finca Reina Elizabeth SL-28 Black Honey
Cantaloupe Melon, Green Mango, Peach Cobbler
TASTING MENU -
Now Available Daily!
Variety: SL-28
Process: Black Honey
Drying: Sundried on raised beds, 12 days
Elevation: 1450 - 1550 MASL
Farm: Finca Reina Elizabeth
Producer: Marvin Barrantes
Region: Central Valley
Origin: Costa Rica
Marvin Barrantes named his farm, Finca Reina Elizabeth, after his mother Elisa Alfaro Hidalgo, known in the town for her striking blue eyes and kindness. The locals of San Luis de Grecia said that only a queen could have such eyes and nicknamed her“Reina Elizabeth” (Queen Elizabeth).
His 8-hectare farm is divided to cultivate various coffee varieties, including Milenio, Caturra, Sarchimor, Geisha, and Villalobos.
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Marvin established his milling operating in 2012 with only a small pulper and some raised beds. While honey processing is expensive, Marvin explained that the short distance from his fields to his mill, and his ability to capture the value from the processing stage, makes it possible for him to produce this excellent coffee.
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Cherry is selectively handpicked by Marvin and his family and pulped on Marvin’s ecopulpers. They then lay parchment and mucilage on drying beds. They rake coffee parchment frequently to ensure even drying. Once dry, Marvin brings his parchment to Hacienda Sonora, where coffee is stored, dry milled and prepared for export.
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Colombia Paradise Caturra Inoc. Anaerobic Sugarcane EA
Honeydew Melon, Guava, Maple Syrup
Variety: Caturra
Process: Inoculated Anaerobic EA Decaf
Producer: Wilton Benitez
Farm: Granja Paraiso 92
Elevation: 1900 MASL
Region: Cauca
Origin: Colombia
The Paradise Decaf has redefined decaf for coffee lovers. We experience the prominent fruitiness brought upon by the inoculation process, and thanks to the sugarcane decaffeination, we can drink a ridiculous amount of this coffee!
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The coffee first goes through a controlled anaerobic fermentation phase (62hr) by adding a specific yeast. Then oxygen is re-introduced for 4 hours of a controlled acetic fermentation phase. They are then dried in a controlled environment for 88 hours, until the beans reach 10.5% humidity.
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Wilton Benitez is a Colombian coffee producer highly specialized and with vast experience in production and processing of exotic coffees. El Paraíso 92 is a family farm that uses highly innovative farming systems such as terraces, drip irrigation, shading and laboratory nutrition count aimed to produce a unique coffee. The farm also houses a processing plant, microbiology lab and quality lab, for careful management of conditions to guide decisions throughout the processing stages, resulting in great quality control in their production.
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Costa Rica Alejo Castro Geisha Anaerobic Natural Lot 1
Rose, Raspberry, Red Grape, Cacao Nib
Variety: Geisha
Process: Warm Anerobic Natural (Lot 1)
Fermentation: 6 days
Drying: Patio + Mechanical Dryer, 5 days + 32 hours
Producer: Alejo Castro Kahle
Farm: Volcan Azul
Elevation: 1500 MASL
Region: West Valley
Origin: Costa Rica
This is another one of Alejo's new variety experiments on his farm, with seeds originating from his friends in Panama! You may have tasted the previous interpretation from Lot 2, which had more geisha variety-driven qualities, while this Lot 1 is taken further by more process-driven qualities.
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This geisha is so precious and delicious to us. Alejo experimented with a variation of his anaerobic natural process, achieving signature floral and fruit character of the geisha variety, and propelled by the process to ripen those fruit notes into a red fruit range and depth of chocolate. This is wrapped up expressively with lots of sweetness and silky texture that we often experience with a Costa Rican coffee, especially from Volcan Azul.
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The journey of Geisha in Alejo's farm - Volcan Azul:
"Way back when Geisha seeds were brought from Ethiopia to the Catie institute in Costa Rica, we didn't take advantage of having this at that time because the local model was having big centralized mills with bigger volume and good homogenous
quality. So the seeds were taken to Panamá where they became famous. In the 2000s we started to go back to the model of single estate micromills so we started to plant these types of varieties. The first Geisha I planted was in 2012, I didn't know much about the tree but I was always curious about having new
varieties. I had the first Geisha harvest in 2016 and got impressed by its quality. That year it was taken to the World Barista Championship in Dublin. The next year we won the presidential award in the Cup of Excellence for having a 90+ score. So in 2017 we started to plant it on a bigger scale so we are starting to have again new production of Geisha."
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Recap of Volcan Azul:
Alejo's ancestors planted some of the first coffee plantations in Costa Rica in the early 1900s with the aim to produce the best coffee in the world. With over 200 years of family tradition in trading specialty coffee, Alejo's mission for the farm has been exclusively focused on improving coffee quality while making a positive impact on the environment. The highly fertile volcanic soil combined with the mill's impeccable processing methods have produced a history of award-winning coffees.
Every month, we bring on 3 new coffees in our lineup, serving them on Tasting Menu, which include Flight of 3 Coffees 1 Way, or Flight of 1 Coffee 3 Ways! These coffees are designed each month to broaden our coffee journey, to experience a wide spectrum of flavours that coffee can achieve from its origin, variety, and processes!
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