Climpson & Sons - Fields V14: Finca San Luis, Las Lajas, Costa Rica

Dona Francisca and Don Oscar Chacon of Las Lajas micromill are third-generation coffee producers in their family. They inherited their farms from their grandparents which have been in the family for over 80 years. This coffee was produced at finca San Luis and then milled as Las Lajas.

The family are known for being among the first to process high-quality Honeys and Naturals in Central America, and for participating in the Cup of Excellence auction in 2009. They grow varieties typical to Costa Rica such as Caturra, Catuai and Villa Sarchi however more recently they have introduced small exotic varietals such as the SL28 from Kenya. It will be very interesting to see the outcome with these experimental lots in the coming years.

Las Lajas is an organic micromill located in Sabanilla de Alajuela in the Central Valley region of Costa Rica. Organic coffee in Costa Rica is almost non-existent, and with this calibre of cup makes it one of a kind; they believe in the preservation of the environment hence their organic practices. Las Lajas processes coffee from their family farms’; these lots are fully traceable and separated by day. Water use is minimal, since the coffee is not washed. During the harvest, Francisca will measure the Brix content in the coffee cherry to determine the optimal time to pick the coffee. 21–22% Brix content has been the maximum they’ve seen.

There are different ways of processing with honeys and naturals, the Perla Negra method is a natural process where the coffee is turned normally on raised beds. Compared to Yellow Honey where 100% mucilage is left on and the coffee is turned hourly on the bed; Red Honey: 100% mucilage left on, coffee turned several times a day on the bed (less frequently than Yellow Honey) and Black Honey: 100% mucilage left on, coffee turned only once per day.

Roasterr: Climpson & Sons

Climpson & Sons does not deliver to United Kingdom