Costa Rica San Rafael Tarrazú is sourced from 1,300 producer families in the Tarrazú region. In southern San Jose, Caturra and Catuai varieties experience ideal growing conditions. The Central Valley is sheltered between the Pacific Coast and the Talamanca Sierra — a geography that traps coastal moisture, retaining it as precipitation. When those conditions are combined with high altitudes and ample sunlight, coffee performs beautifully.
Costa Rica San Rafael Tarrazú is milled at NKG Beneficio Palmichal by NKG Ceca S.A.. It is meticulously sorted as a Strictly Hard Bean quality.
Tarrazú
Tarrazú, Costa Rica, has long been recognized as a region that produces superior coffee qualities. So much so that in 2019, Tarrazú received a Denomination of Origin (DOE) certification, a legal distinction that, like Champagne in France, can only be applied to coffees from the area. It is noteworthy that this legal determination represents a decidedly smaller portion of the area, and therefore producers that have historically contributed to “Tarrazú coffee” may not any longer. (Click here to learn more)
Ceca and Beneficio Palmichal
Ceca traditionally sources a range of coffee from more than 2,000 coffee growers in the Los Santos, or greater Tarrazú, region. Ceca owns and operates Beneficio Palmichal as well as the state-of-the-art Palmichal Micro Mill, which was built in 2015. The mills are strategically located between the Tarrazú and the Central Valley regions, providing access to fresh cherry from both and facilitating separation and traceability.
Mill facilities allow for the production of a variety of qualities of washed Arabica, as well as some uniquely processed lots such as Costa Rica Sonora Honey Natural. Beneficio Palmichal also has a nursery program that in 2016 experimented with planting 350,000 seedlings, using high-quality, rust-resistant varieties.
Cupping notes: Toffee, hazelnut, orange, apple, vanilla.
