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In the cup: A wonderfully complex coffee with a layered structure offering up flavour notes of tropical fruits, clementine oranges and red wine.
SCA score: 89 points
Mouthfeel: Elegant
Varieties: Catuai, Caturra
Process: Anaerobic Natural
Producer: Senel Campos / Finca La Toboba
Altitude: 1500 - 1800 m.a.s.l.
Region: Brunca
Background:
Senel Campos is a 3rd generation coffee farmer at Finca La Toboba. Along with his son, he built a micromill on his farm that is improving coffee quality for his own coffee and the farms around him.
Senel Campos inherited Finca La Toboba from his father, who inherited it from his mother (Senel’s grandmother). Senel’s father, Senel Senior, planted the first coffee trees on the farm in 1968 and supported his family through the earnings from his coffee production. Today, Senel and his adult son, Allan, own and manage Finca La Toboba.
The farm is named for a type of snake that is abundant on the farm. While harmless, these snakes are frequently found in the fields during harvest time. Senel and Allan move them gently to the nearby forested land.
In 2016, Senel and Allan expanded their business by building a micromill on the farm. Since farms in Costa Rica tend to be small and land is expensive, most farms send their harvested cherry to a micromill on another farm where their cherry is processed into green beans. This adds uniformity and enhances quality and it offers another avenue for income for farms that are able to build and operate their own micromills. Many times, Costa Rican coffee is named according to the micromill rather than by the farm.
In addition to the Caturra and Catuai in this lot, Senel also cultivate Obata, Marsellesa, Villa Sarchi, Sarchimor, Catigua, Hybrid H3, Geisha, SL28, SL14 and SL34.
Ripe, red cherry is selectively hand picked and processing at Finca La Toboba’s micromill. They measure the Brix level (sugar content) of the cherry and ensure it is between 22 and 23 on the Brix measurement. Cherry is floated to remove any underripes and pulped.
In this Anaerobic Natural process, cherry is first laid to dry on raised beds for 2 days. Then, cherr is placed in conical plastic tanks that are equipped with valves to measure pH and other data points. The tanks are sealed and cherry is left to ferment in an oxygenless environment for 4 days. Following fermentation, cherry is brought back to raised beds to dry for 28 days. Cherry is raked frequently to ensure even drying.