Costa Rica Berries

Description

Coffee was planted in Costa Rica in the late 1700s, and it was the first Central American country to have a fully established coffee industry; by the 1820s, coffee was a major agricultural export with great economic significance to the population. National output was greatly increased by the completion of a main road to Puntarenas in 1846, allowing farmers to more readily bring their coffee from their farms to market in oxcarts—which remained the way most small farmers transported their coffee until the 1920s. Costa Rica contributes less than 1% of the world’s coffee production, yet it has a strong reputation for producing relatively good, if often mild quality.

In the small town of Santa Maria de Dota, at the center of the coffee growers of Tarrazu that contribute to it, is the coffee processing mill and facilities belonging to Coope Dota. Established back in 1960, they currently represent around 900 small growers and hold the title as the first coffee processor in the world to be certified as carbon neutral, back in 2011.

For the honey process, 70% of the mucilage is left on the bean before following a similar path – the cherry being agitated just enough to ensure even drying without any over fermentation.