COSTA RICA LA MAQUINA | Black Honey

TASTING NOTES | GREEN APPLE. GOOSEBERRY. GOLDEN RAISIN. HAZELNUT

Country of origin: Costa Rica

Farm name: Finca La Maquina & Solis&Cordero Micromill

Location: Santa Maria de Dota, Santos

Producers: Roger Bernardo Madrigal Monge

Altitude: 1650masl

Varieties: Red Catuaí

Processing: Black Honey

Harvest & Shipping: Oct-March 2022

Farm Size: 9 hectares

SCA Quality Score: 87

Suggested brew method: Filter

This Black Honey lot was cultivated at Finca La Maquina by Roger Bernardo Madrigal Monge. Careful processing at Solis&Cordero Micromill helps bring out the bittersweet chocolate, stone fruit and cherry.  

Roger Madrigal has been producing coffee for over 35 years. Roger inherited Finca La Maquina from his parents and he hopes to continue growing coffee on the farm for many years to come. His hard work translated into good prices for his cherry and enabled him to send his daughters to school. Today, they have their own professions and are living in the city.

Solis&Cordero Micromill was founded in 2018 by the Solís Cordero family to help support smallholders in the Santos region. The mill provides a variety of services including cherry processing, selling specialty coffee to international destinations, selling roasted coffee in Costa Rica, consulting on processing and quality control, and export services. For smallholders working with Solis&Cordero, the mill helps them differentiate their coffee by maintaining farm-level traceability and by using innovative, quality-focused processing methods to further improve coffee.

Roger and his family selectively handpick ripe, red cherry and deliver it to Solis&Cordero Micromill. At intake, cherry is inspected and then fermented in whole cherry for 48 hours. Then, cherry is pulped and parchment and remaining mucilage is transferred to raised drying beds. Parchment is raked frequently to ensure even drying. It takes approximately 16 days for parchment to dry.