William Mora and his family have been growing coffee in Parritilla, a remote area in the Tarrazu canton of Costa Rica, for three generations. William and his wife Olga have 5 young kids that are all quite involved in the family’s coffee business, including helping with the processing at the wet mill.

The ‘San Miguel’ farm is 6.5 acres of arable land and is located about 5,300 feet (1625 meters) above sea level. The farm was bought by the Mora family 11 years ago and they started growing Caturra and Catuai varieties there 9 years ago. The family continuously updates and renovates the farm, and one of their biggest priorities is to take care of the environment. They don’t use herbicides and instead cut the weeds manually which takes much more work. The farm is strategically fertilized and protection against leaf rust is applied 3 times a year.

William usually goes to the farm in the afternoon to collect the coffee his pickers hand-picked that day. He then takes his truck full of cherries to the wet mill where they go through a floating system that separates the floaters and vane beans. The Mora family coffees are processed at the Agropecuaria Hellen micromill, which only processes natural coffees and has been giving them great results. The market really seems to enjoy their naturals, which are known for intense fruit flavors and complexity. The coffee is spread and dried on raised beds for 21 days and then put back into thicker layers in order to slow the drying process. The family doesn’t have quite enough space to dry all the coffee they process naturally, so when the coffee reaches a moisture content of 15-20% they bag the coffee up and store it until more space frees up. When it does, they continue to dry it to the optimal moisture content of 10-12%.

This extra storage/fermentation step and the Catuai/Caturra varietals grown at San Miguel results in a wildly fruity and unique cup of coffee; we get notes of caramelized almonds, orange wine and fresh mint on the finish. We have a limited amount of this coffee so get some while you can!

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Espresso: 19g in, 38g out @ 24-25 sec