The Natural Processing Method of Black Soul/Black Pearl from Costa Rica's Lajas Farm

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Alma Negra & Perla Negra: Lajas Farm's Premium Processing Methods

When Lajas Farm processes its own organic cherries, it exports the results under the name Perla Negra (Black Pearl); batches processed with the same Perla Negra technique on behalf of neighboring farmers are exported as Alma Negra (Black Soul). At the cherry-grading stage, a sweetness tester (BRIX) is used to select cherries that meet the sweetness standard from the hand-picked red fruit. Nearly 100% of the pulp and mucilage is then left intact, and the cherries are placed on African drying beds for a fully temperature-controlled, low-temperature fermentation. They are covered with plastic sheets for shade and turned at regular intervals - note that most drying in Costa Rica happens on cement floors rather than raised beds.

Perla Negra (Black Pearl)

Natural processing, dried on raised beds with regular turning.

Alma Negra (Black Soul)

Natural processing, dried on raised beds with only a few turns per day.

Because Alma Negra is turned less often than Perla Negra, it ferments more deeply - and also carries a greater risk of failure. Under Lajas's careful handling, however, this Alma Negra has become an exceptional natural coffee: rich in flavor, thick and round on the palate, with a long-lasting aftertaste. Using different processing methods from the same farm to express different flavors makes side-by-side comparison especially revealing.

FrontStreet Coffee's Pour-over Recommendations

Recommended brewing method: pour-over.

Dripper: Hario V60.

Water temperature: 90°C.

Coffee-to-water ratio: 1:15.

Grind size: BG 5R (58% pass-through rate on a Chinese standard #20 sieve).

Brewing technique: bloom with 32 g of water for 32 seconds, then pour in stages to 126 g; when the water level drops and the coffee bed is about to be exposed, continue pouring to 228 g and stop. When the level again drops and the bed is about to show, remove the dripper. Timing starts from the bloom, and total extraction is 1 minute 50 seconds.

FrontStreet Coffee Recommendation

To taste what a carefully controlled natural process can do, FrontStreet Coffee suggests starting with its Mozzart, a raisin-honey-processed Costa Rican bean that echoes Lajas's approach on the raised beds: round, sweet, and full of raisin and blueberry notes lifted by osmanthus and rose aromas. It holds up across pour-over, cold brew, Americano, and latte, and shows off the clean sweetness that defines the best Costa Rican naturals.

For a more overtly tropical, fruit-forward cup in the same style, FrontStreet Coffee's Ethiopia Huakui is a naturally processed Ethiopian that delivers strawberry, passion fruit, jackfruit, and even lychee-like aromas, with low bitterness and a juicy, smooth body. If you want that natural-process depth carried into a delicate Geisha profile, FrontStreet Coffee's Strawberry Candy blend combines a Costa Rican honey-processed coffee with a washed Panamanian Geisha, giving both fine florals and sweet fruit - it works as pour-over and also in a moka pot, a coffee machine, or as a cold brew, where it opens into notes of grape juice, rose, sweet orange, and fruit wine.

All three come into their own in the Hario V60. Because the V60 is a 60-degree cone with a single large drain hole, the flow rate depends almost entirely on the brewer's control, which lets you shape a bright, layered cup; FrontStreet Coffee favors the resin version of the Hario V60, since resin insulates heat well and is the most consistent material to mold in standard industrial production.