Description: Café Vida captures the classic profile of a Washed Costa Rican coffee, with up-front sweetness, mild nuttiness, and sparkling but gentle citric acidity. These are easy-drinking coffees that work well as single-origin roasts and brews.
Our Central Valley Cafe Vida offerings are different from other coffees of Costa Rica in that they are "Fully Washed," meaning the cherries are depulped, fermented, and washed clean of mucilage. Typically in Costa Rica, Washed coffees are processed using a demucilaging machine, which mechanically removes the fruit material using friction instead of fermentation. These coffees are depulped and placed in fermentation tanks for 12–24 hours, depending on the pH level of the coffee as it ferments, as well as the volume of coffee in the tank. After the fermentation period, the coffee is washed using water channels and passed through a centriflux machine, which removes the excess water and expedites the drying process. These coffees are dried mechanically.
Costa Rica contributes less than 1% of the world’s coffee production, yet it has a strong reputation for producing relatively good, if often mild quality. Central Valley has some of the most distinct weather patterns in the country, with well-defined wet and dry seasons. Since coffee grows best in a mountainous climate, many of the hillsides in the Central Valley are covered with rows of the bright green bushes, reflecting the sun with their shiny, luxuriant leaves. Some fields seem almost vertical, and it is difficult to see how pickers keep from tumbling down the slopes as they collect the berries. The answer lies in the ingenious solution of planting the trees directly behind one another so that the trunk of the downhill tree serves as a foothold for the picker.

Region: Central Valley, Costa Rica

Altitude: 1100-1600 meters

Cupping notes: "Sweet and tart with almond, cocoa and lemon flavors."