We’re stoked to re-stock & offer you this beautiful Costa Rica Palmichal Honey + Cinnamon Anaerobic Co-ferment from the farm and producers of the Ureña Family.

About the Farm:

Paul Cascante Ureña (age 32) is currently the manager of all his family farms, which are located near the town of Palmichal and sum up a total of 14 hectares. Paul has a degree in agronomy, and at a young age, his vast knowledge shows not only by talking with him but also by seeing his pristine plantations. Paul is currently planting different varietals that will give him better yields and cup qualities.

The Palmichal Micro-mill has a state-of-the-art micro-mill that has been under constant improvement since it was first built in 2015. Their goal is to enhance the already very high quality of some of the top farms that they work with through alternative processing methods. They are always experimenting to find the best process for each varietal and farm to maximize the complexity of each coffee and create the most value for everyone involved. They process all grades of honey, natural, and several anaerobic fermentation types.

About THE PROCESSING + Fermentation METHOD:

This Costa Rica Palmichal is a honey processed, cinnamon anaerobic co-fermentation. Let’s break that down:

• Honey Process: When water shortages caused by an earthquake prevented Costa Rican coffee farmers from utilizing the washed method for coffee processing, the coffee farmers began using the honey process to conserve water. To honey process coffee, the outer cherry layer is removed with the inner pulp mucilage left on the bean. After this, the beans are soaked and dried for a set amount of time and moisture content in order to allow the compounds in the pulp to penetrate into the inner bean. Overall, this process requires precision and more time than other popular coffee processing methods, but the end result often yields a fruitier, less acidic coffee.

• Anaerobic Fermentation: Once the coffee cherries have been harvested, sorted and dried—they are placed in airtight, steel tanks to ferment. Once the coffee enters the steel chamber, it’s kept here anywhere between 40-60 hours, with the intent to remove all oxygen from its tank. When oxygen is introduced to a coffee, it can age the coffee, speeding up the fermentation timeline. Conversely, when oxygen is removed, the coffee is allowed to ferment slowly. It’s given space and time to develop a more complex flavor profile, resulting in a punchy explosion of fruity flavors. Though in order to remove the oxygen from these massive steel tanks, something new must be introduced. This something else is Co2, and when pumped into the tanks, it presses the oxygen up and out.

• Cinnamon Co-Fermentation: During the Anaerobic fermentation process, Cinnamon sticks are added directly to the steel tanks of fermenting coffee cherries. This allows the cinnamon to impart it’s flavors naturally into the coffee beans. Infused/co-fermented coffees are rather new on the scene of specialty coffee, so it remains to be seen if it will take off. Either way, it’s a fun new method to explore and the resulting cups can introduce striking new flavors to the consumers.

Tasting Notes:

There is no way one can miss the very forward note of cinnamon and baking spices that present itself in this cup, all thanks to that wonderful cinnamon co-fermentation process. The slow fermentation from the anaerobic process has made this a very smooth and sweet bodied brew. With some extending degassing, we’ve noticed tropical fruit notes in both the aroma and cup - adding to it’s sweetness and complexity. These beans are a wonderful ambassador to the co-fermentation technique and brew well both as a pour over and in a French press.

Please Note:

This coffee is a premium offering and, as a result, comes in an 8 ounce bag. Due to it’s limited availability we cannot offer it in a larger bag size.