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For the fourth year in a row, we're excited to bring you more delicious coffee from third generation coffee producers Dona Francisca and Don Oscar Chacon. We love working with Oscar and Francisca because of their commitment to quality and innovation. The coffee from Las Lajas is among the cleanest "honey processed" coffees we've ever tasted.
Honey Processing doesn't actually involve the sweet stuff that bees make. Processing refers to what the coffee cherry goes through to remove the outer cherry skin and pulp. If the coffee cherry is allowed to dry around the bean without being washed, it's a "natural" or "dry" process. If the coffee cherry is fully removed along with all of the mucilage, it's considered to be a "washed" process. Honey processed coffees fall in between those two methods and can also involve extending the drying time of the coffee to varying degrees. All of these actions impact the flavor of the finished cup.
Oscar and Francisca are among the very first farmers in Costa Rica to produce Honey process specialty coffee. Here's a breakdown of the different Honey processing methods at Las Lajas.
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Yellow Honey: Coffee is turned hourly on raised beds for a few days, then transferred to a greenhouse and turned regularly.
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Red Honey: Coffee is turned several times a day and dried for longer in the greenhouse.
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Black Honey: Coffee is turned once a day.
Since 2018, they've been experimenting with a new Honey-style process they're calling Diamond. The couple produces Yellow and Black Diamond lots. These lots require closer attention while drying than the other Honeys, as Oscar and Francisca want the temperature to stay very low throughout. First, the coffee is pre-dried on raised beds for one day, then moved to the drying patio where it is closely monitored for the duration. The Yellow Diamond takes 15–22 days to dry and the Black Diamond a few days longer (22+ days).
TL;DR: This coffee was tended with extreme care!
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