Aquiares - Costa Rica - Filter - Red Honey Coffee

TASTE NOTES
Blackcurrant Jam, Pink Lady Apple, Fizzy Cola Bottles

VARIETAL
H1 Centroamericano F1 Hybrid

PROCESS
Red Honey

ALTITUDE
1200 masl

We are always thrilled to have coffees from Aquiares Estate in Costa Rica as we have known Diego Robelo for several years now, first meeting him when he came to visit us at our Roastery. Our head Roaster Tim has also travelled with him in Colombia whilst visiting farms in Antioquia. This year we managed to visit Diego at his farm which he now manages after taking over from his father Alfonso.

Aquiares to us, is a perfect model for large scale coffee farming. Diego’s father evolved the farm into a community, with a 200 strong workforce and provided affordable homes. Diego has carried this on recently making the farm carbon neutral and regularly welcomes researchers to the farm to conduct agricultural and environmental studies.

The Red Honey process is when the coffee pulp is removed with the mucilage still intact on the outside of the bean. The mucilage changes colour as it dries and after a certain amount of time it turns a red colour, hence the name 'Red Honey'. It’s at this point the mucilage is removed by milling then left to dry on raised beds for 18-24 days. During the process, sugars from the drying mucilage are absorbed into the bean which gives the coffee its unique flavour profile.