Las Lajas Honey

Roasted for: Filter Tasting Notes: Plum, Prune, Loquat Country: Costa Rica Region: Sabanilla de Alajuela, Central Valley Variety: Mixed Varieties Process: Honey Elevation: 1400-1600 masl About the Producers Coffee runs deep in the Chacón family. Oscar and Francisca are third-generation producers, but their story at Las Lajas took a major turn in 2005 when they stopped simply delivering cherries to a cooperative and invested in their own depulper. Having their own micromill gave them greater control over both quality and processing. They began experimenting, eventually becoming among the first farmers in Costa Rica to produce Honey and Natural processed specialty coffees. Their innovation was pushed even further in 2008, when an earthquake cut electricity and water during harvest. Unable to process coffee conventionally, Francisca drew on her knowledge of African coffee production and built raised beds on the property. Those experiments helped shape the processing style Las Lajas is now known for. About the Lot Honey processing sits somewhere between washed and natural processing, and Costa Rica has become particularly well known for it. After ripe cherries are selected, they're depulped to remove the skin while retaining mucilage around the seed. Rather than washing that sticky layer away, the coffee is dried with it intact on patios or raised beds. How the coffee is dried then plays a major role in shaping the final expression of the cup. At Las Lajas, this control over drying has become a signature. By adjusting drying times and conditions, Oscar and Francisca have developed a wide range of Honey profiles that balance sweetness and fruit character with clarity. For us, this lot shows a deeper, fruitier side of the process, with Plum and Prune sweetness leading into juicy Loquat. A beautiful example of why Las Lajas has become such an important name in Costa Rican specialty coffee. Happy brewing and stay curious.