Costa Rica La Mirella Natural Organic

A thick, syrupy body supports layered flavors of ripe strawberry, melon, and citrus, all balanced by honey and chocolate.

Farmer: Oscar Chacon and Francisca Cubillo Salas
Location: Central Valley
Processing Type: Natural
Certifications: Organic, Direct Trade
Varietal: Caturra, Bourbon

For Oscar Chacon and Francisca Cubillo Salas, the idea of creating natural processed coffee from their award winning La Mirella farm should have come with some hesitation, fear, or even scorn. But quite the opposite response met our request to do a Natural processed version of La Mirella: smiles, twinkles in their eyes, and the question, “Cuantos?”

What followed was the careful selection of fully ripe Caturra and Bourbon varietal coffee cherries measuring 20% or more sugar content and meticulous drying of those cherries with constant rotation and air circulation. Attempting a natural process is risky business. One is essentially letting the fruit dry right on the coffee bean and if not done perfectly, the resulting cup of coffee will become reminiscent of rotten fruit. When done perfectly (which La Mirella Natural has been), the cup is full of ripe fruit and fresh juicy berries.