Costa Rica Tarrazu La Casona

This microlot is a blend of coffees from the various plots managed by the Solis family at their La Casona micromill in Tarrazu. This particular lot is mechanically washed, which means that in stead of using fermentation to remove the sticky fruit after depulping, they strip both cherry and fruit away using a mechanical demucilager equipment. It's the same machinery used to produce honeys. A simple adjustment to the demucilager affects how much fruit is left intact after depulping. The more fruit, the wilder the cup flavors. This lot was processed as what's referred to as "White Honey", which just means they remove as much fruit as possible without scoring the seed. The resulting cup is a close approximation to "fully washed", fermented coffee, with clean cup flavors, and acidity that sparkles. There is a bit more chaff produced during roasting than a fully washed coffee, but nowhere near the amount of dry process or honey process coffees. The city of San Marcos is in the Talamanca Sierra highlands, with peaks reaching as high as 3000 meters. It's an ideal micro-region and climate for growing coffee with rich volcanic soil, great altitude, and is shaded from the hot afternoon suns by mountain peaks. The farms surrounding the La Casona mill top out at 1900 meters above sea level.