Costa Rica Chirripo Finca Jose

Finca Jose is tucked away in a unique rocky outcropping in the area of the Chirripo National Park, a zone called La Piedra de Rivas. Unlike the coffee regions most are familiar with - Tarrazu, Central Valley, or the Western Valley regions - this part of La Piedra de Rivas is on a road less traveled, a dead-end road actually, the end intersecting the few micro mills serving farmers in the region. Finca Jose is a 16 hectare farm (tops out at 1950 meters) run by a man of the same name, who acquired this land from his grandfather some time ago. This past few years Jose has invested in building out a micro mill on his property, replete with wet and dry milling machinery, which allows them to have a more direct hand in the sale of their milled coffee, rather then sell whole cherry to one of the neighboring mills. This is now his 6th or 7th year of operation I believe, and Jose has managed to make many improvements to the original mill including new dry milling equipment and raised beds. This is a honey process coffee, meaning that some of the fruit is left intact to the coffee seed during the 1-2 week drying phase. This can lead to a more fruit forward cup, muted acidity, and bigger body. I'd say "bigger body" is true, but to me, Jose's coffee has the cup clarity of a fully washed coffee. It's worth mentioning that his brother Johnny also has a mill down the road a ways called "Corazon de Jesus", which we've carried in previous years too.