Crankhouse Coffee - Costa Rica

Origin

La Trinidad community lot from the León Cortés area in the Tarrazu region of central Costa Rica

Variety

Catuai & Villa Sarchi

Processing

Honey

Altitude

1500 - 1900 masl

Roast Profile

Omni-roast

Crankhouse

Clean and Juicy.  Notes of Redcurrant and Cherry with a Dark Chocolate Finish

Coffee Facts

Cupping Score - 86

La Trinidad is a community lot selected and processed by CoopeTarrazu as part of a program with our import partner Cafe Imports in the León Cortés area of the Tarrazu region. This program allows separation of lots from specific communities that score over 86 points and they are paid a quality premium. The individual communities receive and decide as a group how the money will be used to improve their coffee production and livelihood. Examples in previous years of the program have seen the premiums used to build roads, large water tanks to store fresh water for the community, roofs for schools, and many other projects.

This was one of the community coffees on the cupping table at the Cafe Imports San Jose office that we visited in March on our day away from visiting farms. The community coffees were grouped on the first table (of 4) that we cupped, each table with 8 coffees. La Trinidad stood out on that first table and I scored it 87 points (anything over 80 is considered to be speciality grade, mid-80's are good solid scores, high-80's are exceptional). Amongst the 12 other coffee folk from across Europe and the US and Canada and the 5 Cafe Imports staff it averaged 86. These were some of the descriptors thrown out by the group: red apple, caramel, plum raisin, black tea, melon, minerals, lactic, lemon, citrus peel, green tea, dry.

Started in 1960 with fewer than 300 farmers, the co-op was created in an attempt to step forward in the coffee industry. CoopeTarrazu was established to bring control of regional commercial activities back to the farmers, concerned for both the well being of the farmers and the economic development of the region and to stop the unfair practices of the bigger commercial forces.