Ethiopian Heirloom variety from the hills of Costa Rica. This coffee combines the tea-like floral notes from Ethiopian coffees with Costa Rican coffees' vibrant acidity and juiciness. 
 
Filter coffee:
Pineapple compote and juicy white grapes with a subtle aftertaste of spiced nutmeg and tea-like floral notes.

Espresso:
Ripe pineapple and intense raisin-like sweetness present a bright, juicy cup.
  
With milk:
Soft and buttery pineapple upside-down cake with molasses drizzle.
 
The Producer:
 
We selected this coffee on our trip to Costa Rica earlier this year with Planting Costa Rica. We were impressed by the operations, the people, and the coffees, of course, at Las Lajas. 
 
The owners, Oscar and Francisca Chacón, are third-generation coffee farmers and masters of their craft. They are known for being among the first to push the boundaries of processing and start producing naturals as well as organically certified coffee in this region. The stories behind making these decisions show their great problem-solving skills, dedication, and adaptability. Natural processing at Las Lajas started during a massive country-wide earthquake that caused widespread power outages and destruction at the peak of their coffee harvest. This led Francisca to come up with the idea of trying to dry their coffee with the cherry intact since that is how they do it in parts of Africa where there isn't electricity or running water during the dry season. So they spread their coffee cherries out on patios, flat roofs and even hastily built camas africanas (african style raised beds) and dried their coffee slowly in the sun. The results were this crazy black dried cherry that they called Perla Negra, which tasted great and made history.
Just as a natural disaster led them to new processing methods, a personal one brought them to organic farming. After Oscar's father passed away due to pesticide-caused illness in 1980, the couple made the conscious decision to do what their hearts told them and began growing organically. It wasn't an easy transition, and in the beginning, there were no premiums paid for organics, and they risked financial stability. But the Chacón family saw the value in building a healthier farm, and today, many farmers and cooperatives benefit from the risk Oscar, Francisca, and other farmers took all those years ago. Las Lajas still remains one of the only certified organic farms in Costa Rica.