About This Single Origin

Costa Rica Coope Tarrazu
ROAST: Filter Roast
PROCESS: Anaerobic natural
REGION: Tarrazu
ELEVATION: 1450 - 1600
VARIETAL: Caturra, Catuai

CUP: Cinnamon, Star anise, Prune
For many of us ‘coffee roasters’ Christmas is the wonderful time of year when we splash out a little and spend on a special lot for the holidays. Unlike how Christmas shopping usually unfolds, we have actually been saving this coffee for Christmas and have had it stashed away in our back pocket for a little while.

This is a Costa Rican of the Caturra and Catuai varietal that really celebrates what coffee has to offer! It comes from the Tarrazu region in Costa Rica, known for experimental coffees and flavours. In the aroma, we find cinnamon and malt. In the flavour, we find a high sweetness and prune with a light body and star anise aftertaste.

The processing of this coffee is very straightforward. Cherries are picked at peak ripeness. Pulped and immediately sealed in steel fermentation tanks for 4 days, after which they are dried on raised African drying beds until their moisture content reaches 11.2%. It is anaerobic but not infused. The coffee is also what we refer to as SHB, which simply stands for ‘Strictly Hard Bean’. Coffees picked above an altitude of 1200 metres above sea level are considered to be SHB and have a correspondingly higher density. This Costa Rican comes from 1450-1600 metres above sea level.

There is no denying that we purchased this coffee on the merits of its flavour, but it makes everything sweeter to know that the coffee is coming from a cooperative that prioritises its workers and the environment. This coffee is from the Hacienda Cafetalera estate which is part of the Coopetarrazu (Cooperative Tarrazu). This Cooperative has a range of projects dedicated to the research and development of coffee processing in the entire region. They also have social initiatives like Las Casas de La Algeria (Houses of Joy), which is a child care centre co-financed by the European Union in Costa Rica. Workers part of the Coopetarrazu are able take their children (under 12) to be looked after during the work day where they receive meals and trained care. Initially, this program was aimed to aid the scores of migrant coffee pickers that arrive in Los Santos each year from Panama and Nicaragua.

We hope you enjoy this precious and delicate cup and wish you a very Merry Christmas!