Costa Rica - Las Lajas - Black Honey

September is here and it's sweeter than ever! Our Costa Rica Las Lajas Black Honey is the coffee that signals summer's grand finale. The Chacon family's legendary honey processing transforms each sip into pure magic, creating a silky sweetness that makes this batch absolutely irresistible. Don't sleep on this sparkling gem. It's the perfect companion as the season shifts and your mornings get cozier.

We Taste: Red Apple, Tangerine, Wild Flowers Producer: Oscar and Francisca Chacon  Mill: Las Lajas  Elevation: 1500 MASL Varietals: Catuai, Caturra, Milling Process: Honey Drying Process: Patio and solar dried machine

Beneficio Las Lajas is owned by Oscar and Francisca Chacon and is known for its unique and exceptional drying techniques for natural and honey processed coffees. Oscar and Francisca are constantly experimenting with new processing techniques and push for the perfect technique to produce a cup that expresses the inherent delicacy, harmony and complexity of their coffees. A specialty of Las Lajas, the black honey process has been developed and refined over the seasons and involves the coffee being left on the patio for a period of 24 hours. This process is the longest honey process used at Las Lajas.

Process Info: 

 

During the Black Honey process, the coffee is carefully dried in a solar dryer for 17-25 days, with 100% of the mucilage left intact. This process involves turning the coffee once per day, resulting in a unique and concentrated flavor profile that is both sweet and fruity.

Produced by Oscar and Francisca Chacon, this Catuai lot from Costa Rica showcases the meticulous craftsmanship of the Las Lajas mill. As a black honey processed coffee, the beans are dried with the maximum amount of mucilage intact, a technique that often imparts a syrupy body and heightened sweetness compared to washed counterparts. You can learn more about the nuances of these processing methods to understand how such techniques influence the final cup profile.

Roasted by Brandywine Coffee Roasters, this selection highlights bright, fruit-forward characteristics including red apple and tangerine, balanced by delicate wild flower aromatics. When evaluating these specific notes, it can be helpful to reference a flavor wheel to better identify the complex acidity and floral qualities inherent in this harvest. This offering serves as a refined example of how the Chacon family’s dedication to honey processing elevates the inherent profile of the Catuai varietal.