La Jas Manor in the Central Valley of Costa Rica

Lajas was also one of the first estates in Central America to begin honey and sun treatments. Solarization is a very traditional practice that uses minimal resources, but it is difficult to do well because of the many factors beyond your control. Francesca added many innovations, such as measuring the sugar content of the fruit with a Brix meter, which is often equipped in the wine industry, and determining the best time and treatment for harvesting according to Brix sugar content. The Brix value of ordinary fruits is 14 for apples, 12 for lemons and 18 for passion fruits, but Lajas coffee cherries can reach 21-22%.

Francesca's natural processing process is laborious. The hand-picked high-sugar coffee fruit is placed in the sun for about 10 days in an African elevated shed, then placed in a plastic sheet covered greenhouse to create more direct heat and continue drying until the moisture content reaches 11.5%. The slow drying process allows the beans to develop more natural sweetness from the inside, but it also requires more care and constant stirring. At the end, the red cherries turn black and emit aromas of fruit cake, brown sugar and even sherry. This is Perla Negra!

Costa Rica has a total of eight producing areas, of which it is recognized as the three best producing areas, Tarazhu, Central Valley, Western Valley, Las Lajas is located in Sabanilla de Alajuela in the Central Valley producing area, and the foothills of Poas Volcano. "Lajas" is technically the name of the Chacon family processing plant. The name of the estate is Finca La Mirella, but bean bakers around the world are also accustomed to calling it Finca las lajas.(Las Lajas) Small coffee processing plant with more than 80 years of coffee growing and processing history, in the last century 95, because of Lajas (Las Lajas) The second generation of small coffee processing plant operators died of cancer, leaving the third generation Francesca to succeed. Francisca and Oscar Chacon (Oscar Chacón) The couple suspected that chemical fertilizers and pesticides used on the farm were the culprits. Since then, they have switched to natural, homemade compost. They have adopted natural farming methods that are environmentally friendly to treat coffee crops. After five years of unremitting efforts, the soil, branches and fruits of the farm have passed the analysis. In 2000, La Jas became the first farm in Costa Rica to obtain organic certification.