Origin: Costa Rica
Farm/Region: Alajuela
Tasting Notes: .
Producer: Cherry plum, mixed berries, and milk chocolate.
Varietal: SL28
Processing: Honey
Altitude: 1500 - 1700 MASL
Coffee flows through our veins: Finca Cerro San Luis is the work and pride of a family and their traditions. The heartbeat of Finca Cerro San Luis traces back three generations of the Delgado family, with siblings Magali and Alander carrying the torch forward on the farm built on traditions set out by the forebearers.
Iconic processing with variety: At the San Luis farm Magali and Alexander cultivate a vast variety of varietals (say that 5 times!), but few pair so well with the famed Costa Rican Honey processing as the SL28. This combination amplifies and accentuates the bean's character, vibrancy, depth and complexity.
Costa Rica--land of Honey: Costa Rica is renowned for its Honey processing, producing some of the world’s best, and being the processing method of choice for many specialty grade to competition grade coffees in the region. The Honey processing method is both labour-intensive and challenging to perfect and also relies on geographical conditions and unique microclimates for effectiveness. The process begins in the morning with selective hand-picking, requiring several passes to ensure only the ripest cherries are chosen. The cherries are then promptly de-pulped upon arrival at the wet mill that same afternoon. After pulping, the coffee is placed on drying beds without being washed, leaving the coffee with its mucilage layer (fruit pectin layer) intact. The San Luis farm uses both outdoor and green-house drying, utilising 100% sun drying on African beds to ensure a slow and even drying process.
Daily moisture checks are performed to ensure quality with drying times ranging from 12 to 16 days when the coffee reaches between 10 and 10.5% moisture.
Although honey-processed coffee has lower acidity and increased sweetness than its washed coffee counterpart, it is the coffee's honey-like appearance during processing that gives honey processing its name. Once dried the coffee is stored in cool and dry conditions where the coffee is packed in double plastic bags for optimal preservation.
Street cred: Cerro San Luis has coffees ranked in the top 20 at the Cup of Excellence competitions in previous years with innovation and improvement implementation crucial to their successes. Exploring different varietals and control innovations like the use of Brix analysis has been a key support stone in the building of this soon-to-be very well-known farm.