Climpson & Sons - Single Origin: Finca Gloria, Costa Rica

In 1970, Gerardo Vargas Rojas came to be the owner of this small farm in Lourdes, Naranjo in a moment of spontaneity (and knowing when to strike while the iron is hot). The farm’s original owner, Señor Manuel Barrantes, valued the property greatly but had become somewhat weary of the family who owned the land surrounding this farm: he claimed that they had been damaging his property. Upon hearing this Don Gerardo somewhat rashly offered to take the farm off his hands for a certain sum. To his surprise, Manuel Barrantes conceded, and the rest is history! It was a bold move for Gerardo; he was 22 days into his marriage, had little money behind him, and he had just agreed to purchase a farm (with supposedly destructive neighbours). With the help of a friend, Don Gerardo secured a loan and immediately set about making his farm profitable. After only a few years (and no run-ins with those pesky neighbours) he was able to repay all his debts, doing so with time to spare.

The farm was originally planted out in coffee, but Don Gerrardo decided to experiment with other activities and by the early 2000s, most of the land had been converted into grazing land for livestock. In 2010, however, he decided to return the land to coffee growing and planted most of the farm in a mix of 95% Villa Sarchi and 5% Yellow Catuai trees. After 45 years of toiling away on the farm, Gerardo remains open to innovative farming techniques and new methods. Today, “Lote Gloria” is one of Don Gerardo’s prized parcels of land, and all coffee grown on its 8 hectares is always processed as a specialty microlot.

This ‘Lote Gloria’ microlot was processed at the nearby Cafetalera Herbazu Mill using the Red Honey method.

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.

Herbazu is a micromill run by two brothers and has become one of the best-known in Costa Rica’s West Valley. It was one of the first innovators in the micromill revolution in Costa Rica; as such, they have built a strong reputation for quality through their care and control in all types of processing. This microlot was processed using the red honey method, whereby 80-90% of the mucilage remains on the bean. Beans are dried on raised beds in overcast or shaded conditions and are raked on the first morning and then only once or twice in the afternoon

Roasterr: Climpson & Sons

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