Costa Rica Sumava Cherry Reposado

Description

Producer: Francisco Mena

Region: West Valley, Costa Rica

Cultivar: Villa Sarchi

Elevation: 1700 MASL

Process: Washed / 48-hour cherry cold rest / Anaerobic fermentation

Producer Partnership: Since 2009

TASTING NOTES: Red Plum / Sangria / Brown Sugar

This “cold-rested” lot of Villa Sarchi from Francisco Mena’s West Valley farm is a special treat. It’s grown on the highest part of Sumava de Lourdes, where wind and fog keep temperatures cool enough for coffee cherries to ripen slowly, allowing sugars and complex flavors to develop within the cherry and its seeds. Francisco has his team harvest this plot of Villa Sarchi at peak ripeness in the late afternoon. Immediately after harvest, the cherries are loaded into breathable mylar sacks which are then placed under shade trees for a 48-hour whole-cherry rest, or reposado. This extra step allows the cherries an additional “cold” ripening that further develops sugars and flavors before being washed and transferred to tanks for a short anaerobic fermentation. The coffee is then carefully dried on tented raised beds. The reposado technique creates a sweet, fruited depth to this coffee that is unlike anything we’ve tasted.