Alma Negra
COSTA RICA
Oscar Chacón is a true innovator in the Costa Rican coffee-producing scene. In addition to his achievements in natural and honey processing, he was among the first to switch to fully organic farming. Oscar’s newly introduced coffee is a blend of natural-processed Caturra and Catuai varieties, dried on patios.
Las Lajas is located at 1300 to 1500 metres above the sea level in the foothills of the Poás volcano, in the prime specialty coffee country, the Sabanilla de Alajuela region of Costa Rica’s Central Valley. The volcanic soil and the lush, fertile land characterised by heavy and regular rainfall provide ideal conditions for growing specialty grade coffee. Las Lajas produces primarily Caturra and Catuaí varietals grown in the shade of native trees. Organic composts are produced on-site using vermiculture (worm composting), and the production process is entirely free of chemicals and agro-toxins. During the harvest, cherries are selectively handpicked to ensure that only fully ripe and good quality cherries are collected. These are then processed at the farm’s state-of-the-art micro mill, in our case using the Las Lajas pioneered ‘Alma Negra’ dry method.