We taste: strawberry candy, milk chocolate

Farm: Finca La Naciente
Wet Mill: Rivense del Chirripó
Region: Chirripo
Processing Method: Honey Process
Elevation: 1,700-1,800m msl
Varieties: Catuai

This honey-processed coffee comes to us from Finca La Naciente, one of Café Rivense's several high-elevation growing areas, sitting at 1,700 masl and consisting of 100% Catuai selections. Rivense is a farm and micromill founded by Régulo Ureña and Isabel Rojas in 2005 in the Brunca area of Costa Rica.

Today, Rivense remains a family enterprise run with the participation of their children Ricardo, Mario, Esteban, Luis, and Tatiana. The Rivense operation consists of several lush, garden-like growing areas with distinct names, which deliver cherry to fully integrated wet and dry-milling facilities all within the farm itself, meaning that their coffee is fully prepared for export when it leaves the farm, ensuring both quality and tracability of its products.

Rivense's coffees have been recognized for quality numerous times, with one lot notably placing 5th in Costa Rica's Cup of Excellence competition in 2019. The farm is managed sustainably, with a focus on reducing their carbon footprint: proper shade management provides organic material for healthy soil, fertilizer and treatments are applied only when necessary, and all water sources are protected.

The Chirripó micro-region itself, located alongside the highest peak in Costa Rica, is a unique micro-climate with flourishing biodiversity, ideally suited to production and processing of speciality coffee. The Ureña family's focus on honey and natural-processed coffees to minimize water usage bolsters this dual mission of sustainability alongside cup quality.

When brewed, this naturally processed coffee is juicy and sweet with base notes of milk chocolate, hints of strawberry candy, and Concord grape. As it cools, the coffee continues to sweeten, getting increasingly jammy.