Costa Rica Lajas Manor introduces eight Costa Rican coffee producing areas

There are eight coffee producing areas in Costa Rica, of which three are recognized as the best, namely, Tarazu, the Central Valley and the Western Valley. Las Lajas is located in the foothills of Sabanilla de Alajuela and Poas Volcano in the central valley. "Lajas" is the name of the Chakon family processing plant, whose estate has Finca La Mirella and Finca San Luis, the estate that produces the bean. Francisca and Oscar Chac ó n, the third-generation operator of Las Lajas's small coffee processing farm, have been in business since their grandparents for more than 80 years. In 1995, Oscar's father died of cancer. They suspected that the chemical fertilizers and pesticides used on the farm were the culprits. Instead of using toxic chemicals, they switched to natural and homemade compost and adopted natural farming methods that were environmentally friendly and ecologically friendly. Shade planting in the native forest. After five years of organic planting until the soil, leaves, and fruit were analyzed, Lajas became the first manor in Costa Rica to be organically certified in 2000.

Lajas is also the first manor in Central America to start honey treatment and natural sun treatment. Tanning is a very traditional practice, which uses the least resources, but because there are too many uncontrollable factors, it is very difficult to do well. Francesca has added many innovations, such as using the sugar meter (Brix meter), which is often equipped in the wine industry, to measure the sugar content of the fruit, and to determine the best time and treatment of harvest according to the sugar content of Brix. Only those with more than 20% sweetness will be exposed to the sun. The Brix value of general fruit is 14 for apple, 12 for lemon and 18 for passion fruit, but the coffee cherry in Lajas can reach 21 Murray 22%. LaHaas not only does the sun, honey treatment, but also has water to wash beans. The beans grown on the farm are Caturra, Catuai and Villa Sarchi, as well as a small number of Kenyan species SL28, Obata and so on.