Costa Rica Los Girasoles Espresso

Coffee Story
Los Girasoles comes to us from the award-winning Calderon family working in the Dota Valley in Tarrazu for three generations. We have been working with this family for over 11 years, and their coffees have become a mainstay on our annual single-origin lineup. Over the years, we have seen the quality of their coffees increase, garnering widespread recognition and winning them multiple awards. We have also seen their increasing success as they have expanded to own multiple farms, their micro mill and even a tiny roastery in the corner of their warehouse, where they have begun roasting and distributing their coffee to local cafés offering the farm-to-cup experience.

About the Honey Process
Rather than fermenting under water and removing the mucilage by washing it clean from the parchment, the Calderon family uses a mechanical demucilager to release a specific 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 occurs as sugars in the mucilage react with the environment over time across the different stages of drying. This creates a sticky layer on the outside of the parchment that resembles honey.