Costa Rica Santa Cruz Honey Microlot

Each Santa Cruz farm selects only the ripest cherries, picking them on prime harvesting days and receiving a premium for their best selections. The cherries are taken to the processing mill where they are combined and pulped with 80% of the mucilage remaining for the drying stage. The coffees are dried on raised beds for 11 days, and then finalized in a mechanical drum drier for enhanced uniformity and humidity levels. The coffees then rest in parchment for two months before being dry milled and sorted by weight, density, size and color. In the final stage the lot is packaged in Grainpro bags and readied for export.

Increasingly honey process coffee is becoming more and more popular here in the states, and in response we’re seeing a good many honey process microlot offerings coming from Costa Rica and Central America. Using the honey method this Santa Cruz Honey Microlot retains much of it’s fruity pulp on the bean after it’s pulped. The cherry’s remnants then ferment into the bean, adding sweetness and complexity. Mill operators attentively rotate the beans while drying for uniformity and to avoid rot. Done correctly, honey process coffees offer a different taste profile with notable sweetness, accentuated body and generally citrusy overtones.

For more on honey processing and other coffee processing methods, see our Farm-To-Cup guide.