Country: Costa Rica
Region: Finca Toñita
Varietal: Caturra & Catuai
Process: Honey +Cinnamon Anaerobic
Altitude: 1,450 MASL
Cupping Notes: CINNAMON, Brown Sugar, Black Tea
Recommended Roast:City to Full City
Good For: Auto Drip, Pour Over, Espresso

Description: Palmichal Micromill has a state-of-the-art micro-mill that has been under constant improvement since it was first built in 2015. Their goal is to enhance the already very high quality of some of the top farms that they work with, through alternative processing methods. They are always experimenting to find the best process for each varietal and farm to maximize the complexity of each coffee and create the most value for everyone involved. They process all grades of honey, natural, and several anaerobic fermentation types (this year we got a fun “cinnamon anaerobic” from Palmichal).

Olman Ureña has been farming coffee for over 40 years. His wife’s name is Maria Nidia Antonia, and all her family and close friends call her Toñita, in her honor he decided to name his farm after her. Palmichal-Micro Mill and Olman Ureña have kept a close relationship for more than 20 years, and in recent years Palmichal Micro-Mill experimented more and with Olman’s coffee, who through outstanding cup quality has been able to receive a premium for his coffee.

After ripe cherries are hand-picked they’re floated to removed low density cherries. The anaerobic process consists of creating anaerobic fermentations, which basically take place under the absence of air. The team at Palmichal Micro-Mill has built a system to create such fermentations. The tanks are plastic barrels with a valve that allows air to go out but not in. This anaerobic process was pulped and placed in the barrel with all its mucilage and cinnamon powder. Brix context and PH levels are measured before closing the barrel; this allows to decide how many hours will the lot be kept in the barrels. For this specific lot the fermentation was in 96 hours. Once the coffee was taken out of the barrels it was placed on African beds for 8 days with all its mucilage. After the coffee rested in parchment for two months it was dry milling and sorted by weight, density, size, and color.