Tasting Notes:
Papaya
Raspberry
Toasted Coconut
Farm: Aquiares Estate
Region: Turrialba, Cartago Province
Processing: Natural
Variety: Centroamericano (hybrid of Sudan Rume and Sarchimor)
Altitude:1200-1400m
Description:Founded in 1890, Aquiares Estate is one of Costa Rica’s largest coffee producers, but it’s more of a community than a farm. Nestled within the farm is the small town of Aquiares, home to almost 2,000 people. To promote home ownership in the community, the farm gave bonuses to all workers and helped applying for loans. As a result, over 96% of the farm workers are homeowners. Aquiares is also a leader in sustainable coffee farming. Their approach to farming is wholistic, applying ecological principles and seeking to build soil and plant health. They’ve planted over 50,000 shade trees, 20% of the farm is dedicated exclusively to conservation, and they’re certified Carbon-Neutral. They also conduct research in the farm to push the industry forward, and they’ve even created new hybrid varieties. They have an entire “Varieties Garden” dedicated to testing new kinds of coffee for their resilience and flavour. This Centroamericano variety is a hybrid of the Ethiopian Rume Sudan and the Central American Sarchimor. This is our fifth year buying the Centroamericano from Aquiares, and every year we buy all three processes (washed, red honey, and natural). It offers a unique opportunity to try the same variety from the same farm and compare the difference in flavour from process to process. Starting with the washed process, the cup is bursting with citrusy brightness and the crisp sweetness of cherry, but is balanced by a malty undertone.. Moving into the honey and natural processes, those flavours are modulated and deepened. The honey process goes further into those stone fruit and citrus notes, but some tropicals start to pop out and the body gets softer and lusher. The citrus acidity moves from a mandarin orange to more of a blood orange or tangelo. Going into the natural process, the body becomes thicker and more intense, and the flavour goes even further into funky tropical fruit like papaya, with some jammy blackberry undertones in there and a cacao nib finish. Overall, it's a unique flavour experience, because you're tasting the flavour profile evolve as more fruit is left on the seed. The best metaphor I can think of is comparing it to looking at different shades of the same colour - same overall palette, but the hue is shifted.