Costa Rica West Valley Honey Anaerobic

Cerro San Luis Micromill is a family business run by two siblings and their spouses, who own and operate both farms and a small mill in the West Valley region. This lot is the Bourbon varietal which underwent red honey process and a very short anaerobic process (it doesn't taste anaerobic, but it may have added some fruit and acidity). 

This coffee has no bitterness, some tangy fruity notes like papaya and white grape, a crisp juiciness, and a really sugary sweet finish with medium acidity.

The attention to detail with this coffee is fantastic and we are amazed at how drinkable it is!

By definition, a honey coffee contains more of the sugars of the coffee fruit, so it is a delicate bean that is susceptible to scorching. This particular one is tougher than I expected and not as finicky as some of the previous honey coffees we've stocked, but still, if you take it to a fast dark roast, you'll scorch it. Try to nudge the heat up gently, evenly, give it plenty of time to get through the 1st cracks, maybe wait 30 seconds more, let it out. City roast is a sweet spot for this bean, but you can go a little darker if its personal preference. If you have a way to control the exhaust fan on your roaster, try letting the smoke mingle with the beans more to give it another layer of flavor.

This coffee has a lot of complexity for a honey processed bean, probably due to the anaerobic finish that it underwent. The undertones of citrus, white grape, (sweet grapefruit?), toffee, and papya make the coffee dance and is much more noticeable than one would expect. It has great body, and a clean finish. The coffee overall is smooth and sweet, easy to drink and really jumps off the table when it's next to any other coffee you're comparing it against. It was one of five coffees that we picked out of a cupping of 50+ microlot coffees.

US Arrival July 2024