Roast level:  Light

Blend type: Single Origin

Preparation: Drip Coffee

Farm/Producer: Rodolfo Rivera, Puente Tarrazu mill

Varietals: Yellow Bourbon

Processing: Yellow Honey

Growing altitude: 1,850 meters above-sea-level

Tasting notes:  A velvety, brown sugar mouthfeel which blooms into more delicate strawberry shortcake and stone-fruit notes.  Aromas of mulled wine and apple chips bring a comforting balance to the cup.

Costa Rica has long been known for its exemplary cooperatives—large, stable, supportive enterprises, forming a large part of a thriving environmentally-friendly agricultural sector.  In the early 2000s, a “micro-mill revolution” began in Costa Rica, as small-scale centralized processing sites began emerging on family estates. Individual farms became new brands, competition increased, higher prices ensued, and a wider range of cup profiles emerged.

Puente Tarrazú was formulated in 2004 by Rodolfo Rivera Rodriguez and 5 neighboring producers. The processing center includes both a wet mill and dry mill, producing fully exportable green coffee, and giving producers more independence and more control over cup profile.

"Yellow honey” refers to a depulping style that aims to remove slightly more mucilage from the coffee seed than is typical in a fully washed depulping, in this case achieved using a demucilaginator, or aqua-pulper, which pressure-washes the mucilage from the seed to a degree specified by the processor. Using machines like these allows producers to fine-tune their exact level of mucilage when processing honeys and has led to a veritable rainbow of color designations (black, red, orange, yellow, white) all of which reference the color of the mucilage as it oxidizes during drying.