Description
This very fruit forward & bright Costa Rican top lot is coming from Finca La Ponderosa, nestled at very high elevation near the Buena Vista micro mill. This small lot is a single strain of Arabica called Villa Sarchí, which is an awesome strain that performs better and better the higher the elevation gets, matches this high altitiude lot perfectly. A medium sized bean that packs one heck of a taste into it. With the expert natural processing of Cerro Buena, this lot hits all the natural processed buttons. Bright citrus, red fruit, creamy mouthfeel with some underlying Costa charecter of nutty and chocolate like tones. Noticeably natural processed tones while maintaining a very clean cup. Not all boozy and overly ferment.
Nestled on the forested slopes of Cerro Buena Vista in Pérez Zeledón canton (Brunca region), the family-run Cerro Buena Vista Micromill was launched in 2015 by Luis Carlos Torres Zuñiga, his wife Hanny, and their children Richard and Kristel. They processed barely 11,000 pounds in their first season while seeking independence from volatile cherry prices. Perched at 5500 feet on volcanic soils fed by the Talamanca Cordillera, the mill receives fruit from plots such as Finca La Ponderosa, Finca Los Pinos, and neighboring farms where arabica strains such as Villa Sarchí, Catuaí, and Milenio that thrive under warm days and cool nights.
Its ecological wet mill reduces water use, converts all organic waste into fertilizer, and has earned two stars in Costa Rica’s Blue Flag environmental program. Microlots are crafted as washed, honey, and natural coffees—including anaerobic fermentations—with pre-drying on raised beds and a sun finish on the patio, each lot logged by date and process for full traceability. Beyond generating seasonal jobs in Buena Vista de Rivas, the family shares composting, shade management, and chemical-free pest-control practices with neighboring growers, strengthening a local network that has turned the challenge of price instability into a laboratory of innovation and quality now supplying specialty roasters worldwide.
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 with a little fuller body and creamy mouthfeel. Slight red fruit tone layer the tastes 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, even roasting with higher chaff levels. You may see an outlier bean or two being natural processed but fairly easy to hit your roast point. 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.
Black Cherry Processing:
Unlike most coffees, these are picked super ripe then sealed up to ferment for two nights in air tight containers. The next day before the outdoor temperature rises, the cherries are taken outdoors and slowly dried on African style raised beds. This leaves the coffee very sweet with stronger citric and fruit tones. The “Black Cherry” name comes from the appearance of the dried fruit before the final milling.
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