| Country | Costa Rica |
|---|---|
| Farm | Los Angeles |
| Varietal | Arabica H17 |
| Processing | Red Honey |
| Crop | March 2024 (frozen upon arrival) |
| Partnership | Since 2012 |
| Flavour | Juicy & Exotic |
Successful family coffee business
Los Angeles is the name for a located in 2100 masl in the famous Tarrazu region (map).
Ricardo Calderón has been growing coffee here since 1978. In 2009, during the micromill revolution, he built his own beneficio called Los Angeles and begun processing his own coffees. In the year 2011, he won the prestigious Cup of Excellence competition, which he repeated again in 2018 and 2024. On top of that, his coffee gained the highest price in Costa Rican coffee history.
Farm Coffee Series
How does it taste?
The coffee was selected by our head roaster Jarda Hrstka during his visit to Costa Rica last year. It stood out on the cupping table especially for its intense floral aromatics, which it owes to its partly Ethiopian origin. Jarda gave the coffee 87 points. He noted notes of red fruit (orange) and caramel in the taste. Due to the red honey processing, the flavour is similar to natural coffees. You can expect juicy and very fruity cup.
The container from Costa Rica arrived during last year's holidays, when we also froze this microlot.
Calderón Family
Currently, the Calderón family owns 15 farms. Ricardo´s two sons (Majkl and Diego) and two daughters (Liseth and Fernanda) help with all aspects of coffee farming. Most of the coffee cherries are processed using Colombian Penagos eco-pulpers. Drying is either on traditional concrete patios or African beds. Parchment is usually stored in huge jumbo bags.
H17 variety - primary F1 hybrid
Behind this not-so-romantic name is a collection of several very interesting coffee varieties. Hybrid varieties marked "F1" are the offspring of the first generation of two genetically different parent plants. The "F" in F1 stands for filius or filia, which means son or daughter. These hybrids combine parental traits and benefit from heterosis, or hybrid vigor, which increases seedling survival and plant health. This is a relatively young development that began in 2015.
In our case, you can taste the F1 cross between the Ethiopian heirloom variety (Sudan Rume) and the traditional catuaí variety. The advantage is the very high-quality cup profile and yield of cherries per hectare. The disadvantage of F1 hybrids is that they are not stable and cannot be propagated from their own seeds, because the offspring would not have the same characteristics. Therefore, for further planting, it is always necessary to buy new seedlings.
Red honey processing
The cherries are processed in Penagos eco-pulpers (see video below), which are typical for Costa Rica. The designation "red honey" refers to the amount of mucilage that the pulper leaves on the parchment skin. When subsequently dried, the parchment has a typical dark yellow to red color (see photo of Fernanda next to the African bed).
Barista Exchange
We share many experiences with the Calderon family. The farm is regularly visited by baristas from our cafes, who learn about growing and processing coffee and also help during the harvest. In return, Fernanda Calderon spent a month in our cafes and roastery in Prague and accompanied Lukas Podbehly during his performance at the World Barista Championships in Amsterdam, where he used her coffee.
Los Angeles - Don Cayito - the center of Tarrazu
Los Angeles or Don Cayito (the brand that the family uses for most of their activities) is no longer just a classic coffee farm. The Calderon family recently built a cafe, roastery, patisserie and barista training center right at the entrance to the plant with a beautiful view of the Dota valley. Crowds of coffee tourists from as far as Costa Rica's capital, San Jose, flock to the cafe on weekends. In addition to prizes from prestigious coffee competitions, the interior of the cafe is decorated with photographs of Pope Francis with coffee from the Don Cayito farm. Be sure to stop here when visiting Costa Rica.
