Finca El Cerro

Farmers/Producers: Oscar and Francisca Chacón Farm: Las Lajas Origin: Costa Rica Process: Black Honey Elevation: 1400-1600 Variety: Sarchimor (T5296) Tasting notes: Plum, Blood Orange, Raspberry - More about this coffee: (Provided by our importing partners at Cafe Imports) "Oscar and Francisca Chacón are third-generation coffee producers, but coffee is more than family heritage — it's in their hearts and souls. Committed to quality and innovation, the couple are among the very first farmers in Costa Rica to produce Honey and Natural process specialty coffee. 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 quality and pricing. "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 flavor profiles we have ever tasted. Today, the Chacóns produce a wide range of Honey process coffees, modulating drying time to create different effects in the cup. Necessity bred further innovation when an earthquake in 2008 wiped out electricity and water to their area during harvest. Unable to run the depulpers or wash the mucilage for Washed lots, Francisca drew on 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."