COFFEELAB - Costa Rica Las Lajas Alma Negra Filter 200 g

Origin: Costa Rica

Region: Sabanilla de Alajuela

Farm: Las Lajas

Variety: Caturra & Catuai

Processing: Alma Negra

Altitude: 1250–1700 m a.s.l.

ABOUT THE COFFEE

Plenty of depth, plenty of sweetness, and nothing obvious about it. Introducing Alma Negra from the legendary Las Lajas. This is one of those micro mills whose name has become synonymous with a distinctive style: intense sweetness, juicy naturals and funky processing. Alma Negra is one of its best-known processes.

This Costa Rican coffee lands in the territory of dark red fruit and dried tea leaves. The closest comparison would be cherry rooibos: sweet, gently astringent and syrupy, with an exotic, tangy flash lingering in the aftertaste.

ABOUT THE PROCESSING

This signature take on the natural process is based on the very slow and precisely controlled dehydration of whole coffee cherries. Only hand-picked fruit with a sugar content above 22° Brix makes the cut. The cherries are first washed and then density-sorted in water, with the lower-density fruit removed. An additional round of electronic sorting eliminates any remaining defects. The selected cherries are dried on patios inside a greenhouse for 22 to 30 days, depending on the intensity of the sunlight. After drying, the coffee rests for at least 60 days to equalise its moisture content and stabilise the flavour profile developed in the fruit. Only then is it hulled, sorted once again and prepared for packing.

ABOUT THE FARM

Las Lajas is run by Francisca and Oscar Chacón. Before they started pushing the boundaries of coffee processing, they were already ahead of their time in how they approached cultivation. They decided to switch to organic farming after the death of Oscar’s father, who had worked with pesticides for many years. Since then, Las Lajas has stopped using conventional crop protection chemicals. They made that decision at a time when organic farming did not yet command a higher price for coffee. In 2000, Las Lajas became one of the first officially certified organic coffee farms in Costa Rica.

Store in a cold and dry space.