*Palmichal Micro-Mill is a new project that started this harvest 2015-2016 with 30 small farmers. Located in Palmichal and processes coffees from: Palmichal, Puriscal, Tarrazu, Frailes. Palmichal’s goal is to find famers with unique coffees, perform a flawless milling process, and deliver impeccable coffee to quality-conscious micro roasters. Their model enables them to match coffees from smallholder farmers with specific quality and process requirements from discerning buyers all with full economic and physical traceability as well as timely services.
This project allows to process small batches by using different drying methods such as honeys and naturals. The coffees they process here comes from individual small farmers and the premiums that the coffee receives goes entirely back to the farmer. There is an overall pre-financing of the farmers for the annual crop.
Palmichal Mill has the biggest nursery in one single block in the country, a total of 330,000 plants and looking to grow next year. Majority of plants are Obata varietal, which is very resistant to rust, has very high yields and potentially a good cup profile. The plants are sold to producers at cost, with the opportunity of financing against future crop.**
Welcome to my Table, here in the corner of this cafe. Today we’re sipping the Costa Rica La Cuesta, from Stovetop Coffee Roasters in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Feel free to pull up a chair.
THEDETAILS
region: Palmichal, Costa Rica
farm: Palmichal Micro-Mill
producer: smallholder farmers
association: N/A
elevation: 1700 meters above sea level
cultivars: Catuai, Caturra
process: black honey
CUPPINGNOTES
The aroma of the Costa Rica La Cuesta is wonderfully fragrant. It’s sweet, fruity, nuanced… Red fruits, refined sugar, and angel food cake.
From the very start, this coffee is dynamite. It’s a very clean, light-bodied coffee, and features smooth, lightly creamy mouthfeel. Softly sweet flavors of milk chocolate, honey, and nougat lightly envelop the tongue, along with juicy, tart raspberry acidity, red delicious apple, and white peach. Savory sweet nuances of marzipan and shortbread play through the finish.
FINALTHOUGHTS
This was a day of firsts for me – my first time visiting The 205 Coffee Bar in Holland, Michigan, and my first time trying coffee from Stovetop Coffee Roasters. I couldn’t have asked for a better introduction to either business. Stovetop Coffee Roasters’s Costa Rica La Cuesta is among the best Costa Rican coffees I’ve ever had, and the 205 brewed it to perfection.
This coffee was clean and creamy, featuring excellent balance, and a pleasant finish. Savory sweet, lively acidity, tart and sweet with notes of honey, fruit, nougat, red apple, milk chocolate, and shortcake.
*image courtesy of Stovetop Coffee Roasters
**content courtesy of Nordic Approach
What were your thoughts of this one? Comments, questions, and suggestions are always welcome! Feel free to enter a comment below. Also remember to like us on Facebook, follow us on Twitter, and follow us on Instagram!
UNLESS OTHERWISE NOTED, ALL PRODUCTS REVIEWED BY A TABLE IN THE CORNER OF THE CAFE ARE UNSOLICITED SUBMISSIONS FROM THE PRODUCT MANUFACTURER. TO LEARN MORE ABOUT A TABLE IN THE CORNER OF THE CAFE, OUR REVIEW PROCESS, HOW TO SUBMIT PRODUCTS FOR REVIEW, OR SIMPLY TO CONTACT US, PLEASE VISIT OUR ABOUT PAGE
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.