What’s more special than an immaculately grown, processed, and prepared high elevation Tarrazú coffee that’s prepared by one of the nicest guys in the region? Welcome to another coffee harvest at our partner Finca La Pastora in Costa Rica.
La Minita has had a long partnership with farm and mill owner Minor Esquival Picado since he began selling us coffee cherry in 2004. In 2011, Minor built his own wet mill on his farm and named it Micro Beneficio La Pastora. Minor continues to sell cherry to La Minita and he also produces his own coffee.
Finca La Pastora is in Tarrazú’s southernmost production zone called Santa Maria de Dota. One of the keys to Minor’s fantastic coffee is that he only picks his coffee cherries when they are the color of Sangre de Toro (bull’s blood). The ripe cherries are almost a purple color and are at their absolute syrupy sweetest. After picking, the coffees are destined for a number of different processing styles – yellow honey, red honey, black honey, natural, and a few special in-house developed processes. A couple years ago, we were fascinated with La Pastora’s “African washed process” which saw coffee cherry undergoing an initial fermentation before being depulped and fermented again and sundried on raised beds. In the 2019 season, Minor upped the ante with a couple lots that utilize anaerobic fermentation (taking place in an environment absent of oxygen – sealed plastic drums in this case). If you see the names Las Nubes, Tercer Cielo, or Flor de la Pastora, these unique lots are worth a taste. It’s worth noting that these efforts are not just Minor’s – his wife, brother, daughter, and son-in-law all work at the farm and mill as well.
A note about the name La Pastora: Some roasters see the name La Pastora on offering sheets – this is usually a generic Tarrazú coffee. The “pastora” is a type of Costa Rican poinsettia that lends itself to beautiful logos and branding. However, when you see the name Finca La Pastora or Micro Beneficio La Pastora, know that this is something different and very special.
Check out Minor in Icafe’s (Instituto del Café de Costa Rica) coffee calendar, although he’s hardly recognizable without his signature wide-brimmed hat!
