Costa Rica
Tarrazú
Los Robles Family
Los Posos
Caturra Catuai
Natural
January to February
Black Cherry, Blackberry, Brown Sugar, Cacao Nibs, Caramel, Cherry, Dark Chocolate, Lemon, Mandarin Orange, Orange, Vanilla
1720 meters
N/A
69kg bag
EU - Hamburg, Germany - Schwarze
UAE - Dubai - DMCC
Los Robles Micromill is a family-owned mill located in the Tarrazú region of Costa Rica. The family founded the mill in 2000, and beginning in 2003, they started purchasing machinery to improve the quality and efficiency of their processes. Initially, the family focused on Washed and Double Washed coffees, but over the years they have incorporated more processes such as Honey, Natural, and Anaerobic fermentations.
Currently, the mill’s infrastructure includes:
Los Robles micromill is well-known for its high-quality standards and thoughtful sustainability practices. Operations at the mill aim to reduce the use of nonrenewable resources like water and electricity, repurpose waste products into natural fertilizers, and ensure that the GrainPro bags used for packing and shipping coffee are reused or recycled by the mill’s global partners.
This Natural processed lot of Caturra and Catuai coffee was grown at the family’s Los Posos farm in Tarrazú. After selecting the ripest cherries, they bring the coffee to the wet mill that is located on the farm in a close proximity- which adds value to the quality of the coffee. They float the cherries in water to separate out undesirable cherries from ideal ones, then place the coffee cherries on concrete patios in large mounds and leave it untouched for 3-4 days. This allows natural fermentation to occur on the hot patio. Then they move the cherries to a static mechanical dryer that works with heat at low temperatures over long periods of time to dry over a week’s time. They let the naturals rest in closed, secure sacks with pulp and parchment after drying for about a month. This method allows the coffee to absorb some of the properties and flavors from the parchment that will add complexity to the cup.
The Tarrazú region lies in the high mountains of the southern Pacific region south of Costa Rica’s capital city of San Jose and is one of the most densely planted high altitude regions in Central America, with many farms at or above 2000 meters above sea level. It is locally known as “Zona de Los Santos” for the number of towns with “San” or “Santa” in their names.
Tarrazú’s climate is characterized by two well-defined seasons; a rainy season lasting seven months (May through November) and a dry season (December through April). This encourages uniform coffee blossoming. On average, precipitation is between 2,400 millimeters (94.5 inches) per year, with an average annual temperature of 19°C (66.2°F).
The fertile, volcanic soils and rolling mountainsides of Tarrazu are well-suited for agriculture, and smallholders grow bananas, avocado, and citrus as well as coffee on properties passed between generations. The spirit of community and family is strong in Tarrazu, with producers caring for their land with pride. Many farms in Tarrazú include primary forest and some degree of shade trees interspersed with coffee and producers take care to protect the natural water sources that spring up from the mountainsides.
