Costa Rica Tarrazu Ojo de Agua

Cafe Imports drove around Costa Rica and found communities where farmers were growing some of the best coffee in the country, but then taking it to the mill and dumping it in with all the other beans. So they started a program called Community Coffees where they pay the farmers directly, keep all the individual small lots separated, and on top of all that, donate or build something that the community needs (and while this sounds charitable, and is, it is also a business investment because they want to make sure these farmers are enabled and in good health to continue growing the world's best coffee.

This is the third year of the program, and it has done things like built roads, roofs, water wells, and schools in these communities. This community is within Tarrazu and is called Ojo de Agua. There were several coffees to choose from, but this one in particular tasted "magical" to us when we sampled it, and we kept coming back to it, so this is the one we went with.

This is best at City Roast. If you're getting any sour in it, take it a degree or 2 darker. If you're getting a flat taste, take it a degree or two lighter. There is a pretty narrow window where it shines, but when you find it, it is a beautiful coffee. It has a hint of cherry, a hint of raisin. There is some mild floral notes, sweetness, a pleasant acidity that is in no way distracting but makes the coffee come alive. Costa Ricans taste like "normal coffee" except that the good ones taste like "REALLY GOOD normal coffee" It's a coffee I look forward to sampling as often as possible. Arrived June 2014.