Costa Rica Cedral Red Honey

Coffee Story
In the Santa María de Dota Valley in the Tarrazú region of Costa Rica, Finca Cedral is one of Roger and Alex Ureña's ten farms. He plants wide varieties and processes all of his coffees at his own Santa Teresa mill. Once freshly handpicked at peak ripeness, all of Roger's coffees go through the honey processing method, which leaves a certain amount of mucilage or flesh of the fruit on the coffee seeds while processing the cherry.

Rather than fermenting under water and removing the mucilage by washing it clean from the parchment, Roger uses a mechanical demucilager to release a certain amount before drying. In general, as the amount of mucilage left on the parchment increases, so too does the colour of the honey process from white (least amount of mucilage) to black (most amount of mucilage). The honey process happens as the sugars from the mucilage react with the environment over time throughout the different stages of the drying process. This creates a sticky layer on the outside of the parchment that is reminiscent of honey!