Costa Rica Single Origin Microlot- Santa Rosa #5 - Fully Washed
Costa Rica has a lot going for it - a perfect climate, an educated workforce, generations of coffee growing expertise and an attitude to life that celebrates passion, beauty and the good things in life. In these circumstances it's not surprising that the coffees produced here are amongst the best you'll find anywhere.
This Santa Rosa #5 is a delicious microlot coffee - volumes of granola-like sweetness with flavours of stewed fruits. It's absolutely perfect as an espresso and makes a mighty fine filter brew as well.
Varieties: Catuai, Caturra
Caturra is a relative of the Bourbon varietal and shares some of the same sweet characteristics. However, like Bourbon it's difficult to grow as is not very resistant to pests.
Catuai is a sweet, medium sized, variety of coffee that originated in Brazil as a cross between Yellow Caturra and Mudo Nova. Because of high yields t is now one of the most widely grown varieties in Latin Ameriica. The coffee cherries don't fall off the branches easily which is useful in areas with strong winds.
Origin: Tarrazú
Our coffee comes from the Tarrazú region - the most famous of Costa Rica's 8 coffee regions and home to about 10,000 inhabitants (though that number triples in harvest season). Tarrazú is almost as famous for its breathtaking views as it is for its coffees and is about 2 hours drive from the capital, San Jose.
The region is know for producing coffees that have distinctly acidic qualities with a subtle chocolate note, this is mainly due to the soil characteristics and is helped by an altitude of 1200m - 1900m.
The Farm
The farm, know as Santa Rosa, located at 1900 m above sea level, is nestled amongst the mountains of the interior. The soil is volcanic and full of nutrition that the coffee trees love, and the climate is cool and humid at this altitude.
(Incidentally, many farms in Central America are named after saints - Santa Rosa is particularly popular)
The producer is Bernan Ureña, a farmer who has been growing coffee for more than 35 years. For the past 3 years he has focused on microlots - which allows him to experiment with different varieties and processing techniques. The result has been a big increase in quality and a significantly higher price paid for his coffee beans.
Taste Profile
Some milder acidic notes in this coffee are present, for sure, but it is the natural sweetness of theses beans that dominate the flavour profile. There is a ton of granola-like sweetness, think brown sugar and oats and stewed fruits.
There's also nougat, almond, raisins and even tangerine notes to detect as the coffee cools down.
The body is medium and as an espresso it's silky smooth and sweet.
Cupping Score - 88
Any score over 80 means that a coffee is considered 'speciality'. Over 85 and it's really something special. This coffee has been awarded a cupping score of 88 (by a Q-Grader, licensed by the Speciality Coffee Association).
Processing
This coffee is fully washed, which allows the delicate qualities of the acidity and sweetness to shine through. The coffee cherries are hand picked and then sorted to remove the underripe and overripe cherries. The skin and flesh are removed mechanically from the coffee bean and the remaining bits of pulp are removed in a 12 hour fermentation. After fermentation the beans are washed again for a further 12 hours in clean water. The washed beans are dried in the sun or shade for 11 - 20 days on raised drying beds. When they reach the desired level of dryness they are removed and stored until ready to be shipped.
Fika Pairing
We've gone for a Swedish Fika classic with a slight twist to pair with this coffee.
We reflect the granola qualities in the coffee with this recipe for Oatmeal Caramel Cookies. This one is quick and simple to bake. Follow the recipe here.
Roasters Comments
The charts above are grabbed from the software which tracks what's happening inside our roaster (a Giesen W6). There are a number of thermoprobes placed inside the roaster and these indicate what's happening with the coffee beans (many the temperature and the rate at which it is falling and rising).
After quite a few experiments we decided that the best way to roast this coffee was an Omniroast - which means one roast 'recipe' for both filter and espresso (usually we would have a unique approach for each of those).
Muttley & Jack's Coffee Roasters
Muttley & Jack’s is a prize winning coffee roastery based in Stockholm. Each month members receive a box of freshly roasted specialty grade coffee with an education pack to help coffee lovers and the coffee curious get more out of their coffee.
The 'Coffee Experience' packages together speciality coffee, travel and education. Discover more about 'Coffee Experience' membership.