Black Soul

01| Production area

Costa Rica is located in Central America. It is the first country to introduce coffee into Central America. It has a long history and a complete coffee organization system from production to sales. Because it is located in the Central American Isthmus, the volcanic soil is very fertile and well drained, especially in the Central Plateau, where coffee is grown in fertile volcanic ash, mild and suitable temperatures, and stable and abundant rainfall. Coffee has become one of the main agricultural products. The coffee beans are Arabica. Pure flavor, pleasant aroma, both in acidity and taste have impeccable balance, coffee particles full, ideal acidity, unique aroma strong.

:: Central Valley

Altitude 1,200-1,600 meters, production season November-March, this region has three sub-regions, they are San Jose, Heredia, Alajuela. There are three high-altitude volcanoes in the region: Irazu, Barva and Poas, which provide rich nutrients for the surrounding coffee producing areas. The microclimate, combined with the fertile soil of Poás and Barva volcanoes, gives the beans of this region excellent qualities, such as chocolate cocoa flavor, bright acidity and elegant aroma.

The Central Valley region is also the first coffee growing area in Costa Rica, and then to other areas to develop the country's coffee industry, moderate annual rainfall of 118 inches, the annual average temperature of only 19 ° C, coupled with high altitude, so the beans are hard and fragrant, smooth, high acidity, full beans, rich aroma, coffee in this region is the first coffee growing area in Costa Rica, rich volcanic soil, sometimes with chocolate aroma. The front section is washed, and the rear section is collected and dried by machine at low temperature.

02 |About the Manor

In Costa Rica, where fine sun and honey treatments are quite popular, Las Lajas Estate was one of the first estates to start systematic research and treatment. It has been a favorite coffee estate of global buyers for many years. Las Lajas Estate is currently owned by Francesca, the third generation of estate owners. Francisca Cubillo and his wife Oscar run the estate in the Central Valley, not far from the capital, quite close to Poas Volcano, at an altitude of 1,250- 1,500 meters, with an annual output of about 55,200 kilograms.

Many years ago, Francesca wanted to improve the flavor of coffee on the estate. At that time, most coffee farmers in Costa Rica used traditional washing methods to supply the demand of American and European markets. Therefore, the owner began to study and improve many equipment in the estate to better meet the needs of sun and honey processing coffee. At the harvest stage, the farm uses a sweetness detector (BRIX) to screen the coffee red fruits that meet the standard, and at the same time sets up its own washing station for coffee treatment, and finally places them on African shelves for subsequent exposure.

In Las Lajas estate, the estate owner divides the honey treated and sun treated coffee into a variety of different varieties by flavor performance. In the honey treatment method, Costa Rican farmers mostly control the residual pulp amount by peeling machines in washing stations, but Las Lajas estate decided to adopt another method, that is, to retain the highest proportion of pulp but control the exposure and stirring time on African shelves to present different coffee flavor performance. In honey processing, the plantation owner separates coffee into yellow honey, red honey and black honey.

At the same time, the manor owner strictly requires all processes to be planted and fertilized according to organic standards. The whole manor uses organic self-made compost, and the organic standards are extended to include soil, shade trees and washing treatment plant procedures. After many years of efforts, Las Lajas Estate has passed the Japanese JAS, the United States USDA and NOP organic certification.

03 |approach

Black Soul This bean is processed by sun treatment.

Harvested coffee berries are placed on African trellises in the early morning. They are turned regularly one day and exposed to sunlight one day until the moisture content is 11.5% under the shade of plastic cloth. The whole process takes about three weeks.

04 |green bean analysis

Black Soul This bean variety is the Kadura and Kaduai common in American beans.

Caturra is a natural variety of bourbon, discovered in Brazil in 1937, and its tree is not as tall as bourbon, but shorter. Due to the inheritance of Bourbon's bloodline, it has a weaker resistance, but its yield is higher than Bourbon's. Although found in Brazil, cadura is not suitable for growing in Brazil, so it is not cultivated on a large scale in Brazil, but is widespread in Central and South America, such as Colombia, Costa Rica, and Nicaragua.

Kaduai is an artificial hybrid of Kadura and Mondu Novo. Kaduai has a relatively good ability to resist natural disasters, especially wind and rain. Kaduai trees are relatively low, and compared to other coffee trees, kaduai fruit is longer and harder to pick, and the fruit is both red and yellow.

[Black Soul]'s raw beans smell light hawthorn acid fragrance