We are back with another great coffee from the Candelilla Estate, last year we really enjoyed 4 Sisters. This lot has notes of red apple, cane sugar, orange and spice.

The La Candelilla Estate is owned and operated by seven siblings of the Sanchez family. The Estate was the first micro mill to be established in Costa Rica and the pioneer of the micro mill trend. Before establishing the Estate, each sibling managed their own land and delivered their coffee to a coop-managed mill. During the coffee crisis of 1997, the family made the decision to pool their land and start their own wet mill. After years of planning the Beneficio La Candelilla processed their first harvest of coffee. Under the leadership of General Manager Sr. Ricardo Hernandez, La Candelilla has introduced different processing methods and planted exotic varietals to increase the appeal of their offerings.

Washed process coffee might be one of the most common forms of coffee processing, but that doesn’t mean that this coffee isn’t special. The process starts with picking the cherries at their peak ripeness. In most growing regions this is done by a nomadic people group who travel the area following the harvest. Most farms pay them by the pound, specialty farms will sometimes hire their own staff and pay people hourly or daily. This is just a small step to improve quality. Next those ripe cherries get depulped, this act strips the fruit and mucilage off the beans and prepares them for the next phase. During the next step they get washed and fermented in tanks for a day or so. After this we go to the drying phase. this can happen a couple different ways. Popular options are raised beds, patio drying and machine dryers. For this coffee they patio dried them, they spread all the coffee out on a big patio and let the sun do its job. Once it is dry enough, they will strip the shell off the bean and bag it, then it is ready to ship!

Coffee Summary:

Processing: Fully Washed

Drying method: Patio Dry

Cultivar detail: Caturra, Catuai

Elevation:1400 Meters

Cupping Notes: Apple, Cane Sugar, Orange, Fall Spices