Costa Rica Cuatro Vientos Anaerobic Natural

This coffee hails from Santa Maria de Dota, Terrazu, from one of three farms where Ivan Solis grows primarily cauai. Solis is known to be a processing expert, with his multiple placements in Costa Rica’s CoE proving the fact. And these have been achieved with catuai–a perfectly tasty variety, but unremarkable in profile when compared to the array of exotics one usually finds in competition. Ane yet…results in the cup speak for themselves.

This is not a competition lot, but its qualities speak to what Solis is able to do on his farms. The coffee was processed anaerobically. The intact coffee cherries are washed at the beneficio, then fermented without oxygen for three days. The cherry is then transferred to raised beds for upwards of two weeks of drying, before being de-pulped and prepped in the on-site drymill for export.

But the quality of this coffee is not simply “process” driven. The farm itself sits at 2000 MASL–about as high as it gets for Costa Rica. In all honesty, the altitude was the primary reason we were interested in this lot initially. You can’t teach hight, as basketball scouts sometimes say. And the landed coffee did not disappoint. It’s got lots of backend acidity. But not in a pointed, sharp way. Rather, it’s mouth coating and poofy.

\Flavors range from deep chocolate–no surprise, given the anaerobic treatment–as well as black plum and black grape, with that meyer lemon like flavor and acidity coming up the rear. It’s really tasty.

• Location: Terrazu, Costa Rica
• Elevation: 2000 MASL
• Varietal: catuai
• Process: anaerobic natural, dried on raised beds