Francisco Mena

Farm

Šumava de Lourdes
Country

Costa Rica
Region

Lourdes de Naranjo, West Valley
Varieties

Geisha, Caturra, Pink Bourbon, SL 28/34, H17 and others
Crop

January - March
Awards

1st place Cup of Excellence 2016
Cooperation

Since 2015

Producer

Finca Šumava is an ambitious project that emerged from the collaboration of a Czech investor and a well-known Costa Rican exporter of specialty coffee, Mr. Francisco Mena. Šumava, in full Finca Šumava de Lourdes, is located in the Lourdes de Naranjo region, about an hour's drive from the capital city of San José. The idea of the entire project is based on an exceptional terroir, a solid economic background and, above all, on the enormous know-how that Francisco has acquired over the past twenty years by working with hundreds of small farmers throughout Costa Rica.

Farm

Šumava is a true model farm that uses the latest coffee processing technologies and current trends in agronomy and organic farming. We were excited to see, for example, the recycling of wastewater generated during the cherry processing process. It is systematically dried on unused meadows and the remaining organic material is then used as fertilizer for coffee plants. Šumava also has unique access to the international collection of coffee seedlings (CATIE). On the farm, you can see gardens dedicated to the commercial varieties caturra and villa sarchi, as well as experimental lots of original Ethiopian varieties, the Kenyan variety SL28, and of course the famous geisha, pacamara or exotic mokka.

Processing

In most cases, cherries are processed in Penagos eco-pulpers (Spanish for "desmusilaginadora"), which is a de facto mechanical juicer for coffee cherries, on which you can easily adjust the amount of pulp left on the parchment of the beans. The amount of pulp determines the type of honey method. White honey has the least, through red honey to black honey, which has de facto all the pulp left and only the cherry skin is removed.

After processing, the beans are moved to drying on African beds, which are color-coded so that workers do not confuse or mix coffees by mistake even at the peak of the season - red for natural processing, blue for the washed method and yellow for honey coffee.

In 2019, the Šumava farm began experimenting with new coffee processing methods, mainly using lactic and carbonic fermentation. Francisco likes to ferment cherries in closed plastic tanks filled with water. For example, dry-processed coffees are left in the shade in plastic crates for about 3-4 days after harvest (so-called "reposado"). They then travel to the aforementioned 500-liter plastic tanks, where they are immersed in cold water for about 24-48 hours. Only then are they spread out on African beds. Francisco calls this processing "Blackmoon natural".

Fun Fact

The name of our Šumava National Park was given to the farm by Francisco's wife, Mrs. Jennifer Mena, after she visited the Czech Republic and also visited Šumava. The nature of the landscape, especially the coniferous forests, seemed very similar to the Lourdes de Naranjo region, which is why she decided to name the farm after it.

Francisco Mena

Farm

Country

Region

Varieties

Crop

Awards

Cooperation

Šumava is a model farm that uses modern coffee processing technologies and current trends in agronomy and organic farming

Producer

Farm

Processing

Fun Fact

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