Costa Rica Monte Brisas Typica

The Typica variety has become a less common sight at coffee farms, especially in Latin America. A lot of the reasons behind the disappearance of this early Arabica relative is because of its low resistance to coffee plant diseases. Because of this, you're much more likely to see a few sole survivors, rather than entire plots. But some farmers are still willing to give the care and attention needed to maintain the Typica trees, recognizing the great cup potential and the value it brings. Maria Elena Castro and her son Luis Salazar are an example of this, who continue cultivating small Typica plots that they havest separately from the rest of their of their coffees. This 6 bag lot is from their farm, El Danto, located in Zarcero, part of Costa Rica's famed West Valley growing region. The farm sits around 1750 meters, and is also planted in other cultivars as well (We have a Villa Sarchi lot to list in early 2025).

The coffee is processed at their Monte Brisas mill, an impressive, well cared for, micro-mill that feels a bit like a museum with all of its meticulously maintained older machinery! The coffee is mechanically washed on a Desacafe machine and sun dried on raised beds adjacent to the wet mill. Leaving that fruit mucilage intact instead of washing it away is the hallmark of honey process coffee. This lot, however, is what some call "semi-washed", or "white honey", which is the Costa Rican equivalent of a fully washed coffee. The demucilager machine is calibrated to remove as much fruit as possible. Then the coffee is soaked for a short period to help wash away some of the remaining fruit. Without fermentation, there is still a very thin layer of fruit intact. This means the coffee looks a little darker when roasting it, and a much higher instance of chaff than the typical fully washed/fermented coffee.