The ripe coffee cherries come from the La Pastora area, which is about an hour away from the Don Eli farm. This is one of the highest farms in Costa Rica with fantastic soils and a stable climate. The coffee cherries are delivered to the mill in the evening, where they rest overnight before being processed the next morning. Jacob, Carlos' son, processes all the coffees here with great passion. For this lot, Jacob opted for the "double washed" processing method, which involves a considerable amount of extra work. The coffee cherries were pressed through a Penagos eco-pulper to remove the outer skin of the coffee cherries. The coffee was then covered and left to ferment dry for 24 hours. Afterwards, the coffee was washed several times with fresh, cold water to remove all pulp residues. After washing, the coffee was soaked overnight in fresh, cold water for 12 hours. Finally, the coffee beans were spread out on raised drying beds and dried in the shade for 5 days. After the initial shade drying, the coffee was placed on African raised beds to dry in the sun. This multi-stage process is widely used in countries such as Kenya and Rwanda, but is not common in Costa Rica. The result is a wonderfully clear and sweet washed coffee with a distinctly different taste to most washed coffees from Costa Rica.
