Volcan Azul - Costa Rica - Natural Anaerobic Caturra
Flavor: Apricots, dried Fruits, sweet cocoa pulp, complex
Cupping score: 88+
Origin: Costa Rica
Region: West Valley
Producer: Alejo Castro Kahle
Varietal: Caturra
Process: Natural Anaerobic
Altitude: 1400-1500 MASL
Roasted for: Filter - Light roast
ANAEROBIC
We use anaerobic tanks with a valve that lets the oxygen out and will be replaced with CO2. We can start this process with a Fully Washed, Yellow Honey, Red Honey and Natural process. Then, we develop different recipes by measuring time, temperature, pH (acidity) and Brix content of the mucilage inside the tank. It's important to say that we are not adding strange stuff to this process; we want to develop or enhance the flavours we naturally have in our coffee with the help of the autochthonous yeast from our farm. We have our FOREST SHADE ANAEROBIC for lower temperatures and our WARM ANAEROBIC with direct contact with sunlight. After this, the coffee is taken to the drying patio or raised beds and stirred daily from 8 am to 2 pm. At 2 pm, we start covering the coffee with plastic to keep it warm during the night and won´t gain humidity from the mist we usually have during the early morning. This process will take between 7 and 16 days.
ABOUT
Alejo belongs to the fifth generation of coffee growers. He enjoys experimenting with different varieties and processes, which is why he is now able to offer this excellent micro lot of natural Caturra produced at his Hacienda Colima farm.
Coffee production began in America in the mid-19th century. At that same time, two pioneering families originally from Europe set up a coffee business: the Spanish Castro-Jimenez family in Costa Rica and the German Kahle family in the Chiapas region of Mexico. Alejo belongs to the fifth generation of the Castro-Kahle family, which has been growing coffee on the slopes of the Poas Volcano in central Costa Rica for more than 100 years.
The family has chosen to conserve some 200 hectares of forest located above their coffee fields in order to preserve the local biodiversity. They have also bought 1,500 hectares of primary forest in the Osa Peninsula in the south of the country.
Fauna and flora are sacrosanct in Costa Rica, and according to Alejo, it must be what gives the coffee so much flavor. The soils on the slopes of the Poas Volcano are enriched with the volcanic dust that falls after each eruption.
Alejo has a real passion for the different coffee varieties and processes, and each year tries his hand at innovating, combining, concocting, and refining his coffees just like an alchemist.