Costa Rica Anaerobic Cristian Alvarez

Cristian Alvarez' farm, "El Rodeo", is located near Palmichal town, in the buffer zone between busy San Jose and the more rural Tarrazú region. He's the fourth generation to work this land, which has shifted from a horse ranch decades earlier, to the expansive 60 hectare coffee farm that it is today. The farm is planted in Caturra and Catuaí, and like many of his neighbors, Cristian opts to sell his cherry to local millers rather than process himself. In this case, the coffee was sold to the nearby Palmichal mill, who we've bought from in previous years (see "Los Santos", "Vecindario", etc). They are equipped with machinery to do both large volume blends, and tiny experimental lots, like this one. This anaerobic natural involves first fermenting the whole cherries in airtight barrels with 1-way valves for around 70 hours. The coffee is then moved to raised beds where it dries for around 7 days. Both the anaerobic and natural/dry process methods are known for producing fruit-forward coffees, which rings true with Cristian Alvarez' coffee. The flavors are intense, with rustic fruit notes that carry a winey edginess to them. The coffee also presents a bit darker than a typical wet process lot, and produces more chaff during roasting. Be sure to pay attention to visual and audible queues, and vacuum your roaster between batches.