Central American Coffee Growing Region - Introduction to Costa Rica Las Lajas Estate SL28 Raisin Natural Process

Professional Coffee Knowledge Exchange

For more coffee bean information, please follow Coffee Workshop (WeChat official account: cafe_style)

FrontStreet Coffee - Costa Rica Las Lajas Estate SL28 Raisin Natural Process Introduction

Francisca and Oscar Chacón, a husband-and-wife team, are the third-generation operators of Las Lajas. Las Lajas is located at the foot of Poás Volcano in Sabanilla de Alajuela, Central Valley. The Chacón family has been growing coffee for over 80 years since their grandfather's generation. In 1995, Oscar's father passed away from cancer, and they suspected that chemical fertilizers and pesticides used on the farm were the culprit. Since then, they have stopped using toxic chemical products and required all processes to follow organic standards for cultivation and fertilization, using organic homemade compost. At the same time, they extended organic standards to soil quality, shade trees, and washed processing plant procedures, adopting environmentally friendly natural farming methods with native forest shade cultivation.

After five years of organic cultivation, until the analysis of soil, branches, leaves, and fruits all passed inspection, in 2000, Las Lajas became the first estate in Costa Rica to obtain organic certification. Currently, Las Lajas Estate has passed Japan's JAS, America's USDA, and NOP organic certifications. After obtaining organic certification, the Chacón couple took it a step further and began building their own processing plant. In the past, they could only send the cherries produced from their farm to large commercial processing plants, with no control over the post-processing procedures. Having their own washing plant to process their coffee significantly improved the overall quality.

Innovative Natural Process - Raisin Natural

Combining Black Pearl and Black Soul methods, the entire process involves shade drying for approximately three weeks or more. First, the coffee is spread flat on cement surfaces inside a greenhouse, then piled into hill-like shapes in the afternoon and covered with plastic sheets for shade. The next morning, it is spread flat again. After about one to two weeks, it is moved to African drying beds under the greenhouse for shade drying. These African beds consist of two sets of three layers each, with daily circulation and position changes from top to bottom and left to right, ensuring even drying of the coffee beans until processing is complete. This longer fermentation period greatly enhances the sweetness and flavor complexity of the coffee beans.

Costa Rica Las Lajas Estate SL28 Raisin Natural Process

Region: Central Valley

Altitude: 1,300-1,500 meters

Variety: SL28

Soil Type: Volcanic soil

Grade Standard: SHB

Processing Method: Raisin Natural Process

Harvesting Method: Hand-picked

Certifications: JAS, NOP, USDA

Estate Established: 1840

Planting Area: N/A

Estate Size: 38 hectares

Average Temperature/Rainfall: 20°C/2,500-2,700mm

Dry Aroma: Walnut, cream, blueberry

Wet Aroma: Wine, blackcurrant

Tasting Notes: Ripe grapes, plums, lychee, caramel

Knowledge Point: In 1729, coffee trees were transplanted from Cuba to Costa Rica, opening the chapter of Costa Rican Arabica coffee cultivation.

Brief Introduction

FrontStreet Coffee is a coffee research establishment dedicated to sharing coffee knowledge with everyone. We share without reservation, hoping to help more friends fall in love with coffee. Additionally, we hold three low-discount coffee events every month because FrontStreet Coffee wants to let more friends enjoy the best coffee at the lowest possible price. This has been our mission for the past six years!

Important Notice :

前街咖啡 FrontStreet Coffee has moved to new addredd:

FrontStreet Coffee Address: 315,Donghua East Road,GuangZhou

Tel:020 38364473