Description
A high rated, far from traditional Costa Rican arrival!
Anaerobic processing has all the buzz in the coffee industry these days, but basically just means the farm used a “controlled environment” fermentation process. In this case, the results are wonderful. Very clean coffee, higher acidity, lots of fruitiness ranging from citric to classic red fruit. Keep in mind, fermentation tastes are considered exotic in the coffee world. We love them around here, but depending on your tongue, they can be too much for some. The fruitiness and fermentations tones cannot be missed in this coffee but present refined and on the clean side.
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 Grecia, in the West Valley. In the interest of improving their quality and remaining competitive, they have focused on growing different varieties, and about 4 years ago they replaced their older stock with 10 or more different types of coffee, including Caturra, Red and Orange Bourbon, SL-28, Catuai, Villa Sarchi, and Maragogype.
The family’s farms are adjacent to one another, but the plots are given separate names for lot separation purposes, and the mill is located at the family home, just a few miles away.
After harvesting, the cherry is brought right to the family home, where they are able to do a variety of different processes, from washed and honeys to natural. As is common at mills in Costa Rica, at Cerro San Luis the type of honey is decided by how much mucilage is left on the coffee after depulping.
Tasting Notes:
This is a quality bean in and out, best served in the light to medium roast level. Lots of cool tones to play with in the roaster. Higher acidity, very sweet, with some floral tones popping out, just like a high rated Costa should be. A fruit forward offering, slight red fruit but most will pick it up as a grape skin like fruitiness when mixing with the higher acidity. All these lighter tones balance with some nuttiness than will lean on the chocolaty side, especially as/if you push the roast a little darker. Super light roasts lean the cup to lemony/floral and will be loaded with more citric lighter tones, not very balanced but punchy and clean. Darker roasts lean it towards nutty/chocolaty with more stout like features & fruity highlights. In the middle, one gets layers of all the lovely flavors in the cup. Crisp and clean lemony floral balanced with sweet and smooth chocolaty undertones than linger on the nuttier side. Hints of fruit will pop out but not hit you over the head.
Roasting Notes:
A fun bean to play with roast level, hard to find a bad roast. Beautiful prep, very even roasting, large beans, with only medium chaff levels. If you are not a floral/citric/fruity fan, make sure to get at least a medium roast or somewhere around second crack or the acidity will likely be a bit too much. New wave coffee fans will love this cup on the lighter side, just slightly past first crack, to still hearing a couple pops will make light roast fans very happy. Setup on this bean is critical to see the depth of flavor, 2-3 days was a sweet spot but depending on personal taste or if used for espresso, the 4-9 day window might be worth the wait.
Anaerobic Honey
The cherries are left to ferment for one night in closed coffee bags. The next day before the outdoor temperature rises, the cherries are taken to the mill to be washed/disinfected and depulped. Next, they are stored in stainless steel containers. The anaerobic fermentation happens between 6-48 hours depending on what they are searching in terms of cup flavors. They also take into consideration the Brix levels and the quality of the cherries.
Next, the coffee is washed to avoid stains on the parchment. The drying method is with raised beds in a greenhouse, the temperature can’t be more than 45°C. Coffee is moved constantly until it reaches a range of 10-11% of humidity. It can take from 3-4 days depending on the weather.
It is important to note this coffee was intentionally processed utilizing anaerobic fermentation. In general, placing freshly-harvested cherries inside a sealed container or bag of some sort for a period of time will create a flavor impact. We find those anaerobically-fermented coffees often exhibit an increase in the intensity of fruit and acidity and a slight increase in the body. Nonetheless, the anaerobic fermentation process has a distinct impact on the outcome of the flavor profile.
notyourown (verified owner) –
Shortly after a 4 day setup, I found this coffee to be quite delicious. But then as the coffee continues to outgas which it does btw for a very long time in a valved bag, I find it off putting with very high acidity and wondered where those good flavors disappeared to? This is a challenging coffee to figure out. I think I’ll do a much longer setup next time and maybe take it full city instead of city. Thoughts anyone?