Flatlands Coffee
Finca Palmilera Typica, Costa Rica

You really want that knock-your-socks-off coffee? Well, you got it! This special fresh harvest of Finca Palmilera is one that will make you spontaneously scream for joy after each sip. Even in trying thousands of coffees from hundreds of various roasters, one coffee I’ve never forgotten is a pure Typica variety from Bolivia. I’ve rarely had the privilage to try pure Typica coffees like this one, which are renowned for their outstanding natural sweetness. It is a great honor to roast this washed process, pure Typica harvest, grown by Ricardo Hernandez Naranjo on his farm, Palmilera in Costa Rica. I hope you enjoy this one as much as I do. Microlots from Costa Rica are typically sourced from producers who have invested not only in growing their farms, but also in building and operating their own processing facilities, typically called "micromills." This particular coffee was processed at the La Candelilla micromill, which was established by 7 smallholder producers in Tarrazú. This lot is from one of the founders of the mill, Ricardo Hernandez Naranjo, who was one of the first to suggest to his farmer mates that they should start the "mini beneficio." Don Ricardo has been growing coffee for 32 years and is dedicated to the process, as are many of the producers who utilize La Candelilla. Don Ricardo also worked for 10 years as a consultant at beneficios in Costa Rica, Nicaragua, El Salvador, Honduras, Panama, and even Tanzania, helping mills improve their processing and learning more about coffee quality. "The production of processing specialty coffees is something I have been studying for 15 years," he says. "I have had to develop the processes as well as to identify the different varieties for special batches." He grows several different varieties and processes them in many ways, including this classic Washed presentation of a Typica variety. His trees grow in rich ultisol, which is a type of red-clay soil that is particularly fertile in humid tropical or subtropical areas. This soil composition contains no calcium carbonate or lime. Once the ripe cherry is brought to the mill, it is processed depending on the profile and the weather.