TASTES LIKE: BLACKCURRANT - GRENACHE - TROPICAL FRUIT
From the importer:
In 2005, after years of delivering their cherry to a cooperative for the going market price, they decided to join the brand-new "micromill revolution" and buy their own depulper to have more control over the quality and the price they received for their lots. "At first, we didn't know what we were doing," Oscar explains. "We were just experimenting." That experimentation led to some of the most exciting new flavor profiles we have ever tasted: Now, the Chacons produce a wide range of Honey process coffees, modulating the drying time in order to create different effects in the cup.
Necessity bred more innovation for the family when an earthquake in 2008 wiped out electricity and water to their area during the harvest. Unable to run the depulpers or to wash the mucilage off to produce Washed lots, Francisca took inspiration from her knowledge of African coffee production and quickly built raised beds on the property. Their Natural lots caught the attention of Cafe Imports' founder Andrew Miller, and the rest is both history and our-story.
The Alma Negra natural process used for this coffee involves selecting only the ripest coffee cherries (based on brix, the same measure used to test ripeness in wine grapes) before subjecting them to an extended drying and fermentation process with skin and fruit on the seed.
This results in a brilliantly complex, bright and winey cup. La Esmerelda demonstrates a big pop of tropical fruit acid leading into a bold grenache and red fruit body. This is one of our favourite coffees of the seasons and if you're a filter coffee enthusiast you should absolutely give it a go.
Recommended for: Filter
Sourced from: Cafe Imports
Farmer(s): Francisca & Oscar Chacon
Region: Las Lajas Washing Station, Sabanilla de Alajuela, Central Valley, Costa Rica
Processing: Alma Negra Natural
Varietal: Catuai, Caturra
Altitude: 1400–1600 MASL
