Cafe Imports bought its first Costa Rica microlot container at the end of the 2006/2007 harvest; at that time the microlot offerings were basically non-existent. In six years the Costa Rica microlot market has grown to be one of the most popular origins that deliver very consistent quality year-after-year.
The Los Lobos comes from the Rio Jorco farm in Costa Rica’s Tarrazu region.
Rio Jorco’s owners are third generation in the business. They are extremely focused on quality and conservation of nature. Los Lobos won Cup of Excellence #3 in 2012 and the owners have dedicated 3/4 of the land is dedicated to a private reserve. Rio Jorco is equipped with a complete wet-mill and dry-mill which allows them to control quality throughout the process. They process coffee from their farm, Los Lobos, but also purchase cherry from producers from the area. Producers are compensated based on cup quality and get recognition for selling a microlot.
Rio Jorco’s operations area is in the municipalities of: Aserri, Acosta, Leon Cortez, Frailes, Desamparados, and Corralillo. These micro-regions of Tarrazu have won multiple Cup of Excellence awards year after year.
Welcome to my Table, here in the corner of this cafe. Today we’re sipping the Costa Rica Los Lobos, from Populace Coffee in Bay City, Michigan. Feel free to pull up a chair.
THE BASICS:
region: Tarrazu, Costa Rica
farm: Hacienda Rio Jorco
producer: Famila de Jorge Zeledon Castro
association: N/A
elevation: 1800 meters above sea level
cultivars: Caturra, Catuai
process: fully washed, patio dried
certifications: standard
THE COFFEE:
The aroma of the Costa Rica Los Lobos is delicate, fragrant, perfumy, and sweet, with notes of rose hips, chamomile, stone fruit, and honey.
Sha-zam. From the very first sip immediately post-brew, this coffee is bright, sparkling, pungently sweet, somewhat tart, and it simply dances on the palate. There’s a light, creamy caramel that streams down the center of the tongue and, already, there’s a beautiful, bright, and juicy nectarine acidity. For such a bright and sparkling coffee, though, it has a somewhat viscous mouthfeel, which is probably primarily due to its very prominent cantaloupe flavor and silky rose petal texture.
As it cools off, the coffee gets a bit tarter, much juicier, and a whole lot more flavorful as the coffee goes from somewhat heavy and viscous to light, sparkling, and bubbly as it takes on an absolutely beautiful champagne acidity. Apricot, melon, white peach, golden delicious apple, strawberry, grapefruit.
Medium body; viscous/bubbly mouthfeel; champagne acidity; clean finish.
THE BOTTOM LINE:
I can summarize Populace Coffee’s Costa Rica Los Lobos with one word: DAYUMN.
This is an absolutely beautiful coffee; super flavorful, an absolutely crystalline clarity, and a stunning, sparkling acidity. This was a real “sipping coffee”—not just because of the tartness towards the finish, but because it’s a coffee that you just don’t want to end.
The Costa Rica Los Lobos is a coffee to be excited about. Just ask the guy who participated in Populace Coffee’s new “New to Coffee” video series.
httpv://vimeo.com/95747873
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Andrew is a husband, father, dog lover, craft beverage enthusiast, content creator, and niche market Internet celebrity. Formerly of A Table in the Corner of the Cafe and The Pulitzer Project and contributor to Barista Magazine and Mental Floss, he’s been writing on the Internet for years.