Costa Rica Poás x Las Lajas Micromill x Red Honey Catuai
ABOUT THIS COFFEE Oscar and Francisca Chacón are third-generation growers who got tired of hauling their cherry to the co-op for whatever the market would pay. In 2005 they bought their own depulper, joined what became Costa Rica's micromill revolution, and started experimenting — by Oscar's own account, without much idea what they were doing at first. They became among the very first producers in the country to make honey and natural process specialty coffee. Then a 2008 earthquake cut power and water to the region mid-harvest, and Francisca, drawing on what she knew of East African methods, built raised drying beds on the property rather than lose the crop. Las Lajas has been the benchmark for Costa Rican honey processing ever since. This is their red honey from Finca Chilamate: a portion of the fruit left on the seed through drying, timed to land between the delicacy of a yellow and the density of a black. The result is a genuinely layered cup, lemongrass and florals up top, red fruit through the middle, and a nutty, chocolate weight underneath that keeps the whole thing anchored. Fruit-forward without ever becoming a fruit bomb. TASTING NOTES BODY: Full, Syrupy FLAVOR: Lemongrass, Red Fruit, Toasted Hazelnut FINISH: Sweet, Lingering REGIONAL INFO LOCATION: Poás, Alajuela, Costa Rica PRODUCER: Oscar & Francisca Chacón, Las Lajas Micromill — Finca Chilamate ALTITUDE: 1,600 MASL VARIETAL: Catuaí PRODUCTION METHOD: Red Honey, Raised Bed Dried