Las Lajas Costa Rica

What you will expect from the cup...

Blueberry Jam, Black Plum, Fig Paste, Golden Raisin

Some Information...

Farm: Las Lajas

Region : Central Valley - Sabanilla de Alajuela

Altitude: 1500

Process: Red Honey

Varietal: SL28

About the process...

The harvest runs from December to February, and after picking, cherries are floated using Penagos machines before processing. Honeys are first dried on raised beds in the sun and moved when the desired colour is reached — the longer the drying, the darker the honey. For example, black honey is not moved at all for the first two days after pulping. When moving coffee on the patios, they flip the crust that forms rather than create rows with a rake, as they have found this produces a more consistent lot.

About the farm...

Las Lajas coffee is grown by the Chacón family. Six farms — owned by six brothers and together comprising 73 ha — and a mill are located in the town of Sabanilla de Alajuela, on the slopes of the Poás volcano. The mill stands at 1,300 masl, with the farms above at 1,450–1,500 masl. The mill, which produces about 2,000 exportable bags per year, is owned and run by Oscar Chacón and his wife, Francisca, with help from their four children — the eldest of whom completed the second level of the Q Processing course in 2020.

The Chacón farms are mostly run according to organic farming principles. Over time, it has become more costly and complicated to maintain official organic certification, and the family felt the certification no longer added sufficient value to their product. They have since allowed it to lapse, but organic principles remain central to their philosophy. Their production is chemical-free, pulp from the mill is composted and returned to the coffee plants, and their processes use only one cubic meter of water per day.