The story of this Las Lajas starts in 2008 when an earthquake cut off the Las Lajas micromill’s access to water, leaving producers Oscar and Francisca Chacon without a way to ‘wash’ their crops. Oscar had heard of producers in Brazil and Ethiopia using natural processing techniques, so he decided to try the same. He took his knowledge and philosophy of coffee roasting and applied it to his natural process and found that by carefully measuring and slowly drying the coffees he was able to make truly stunning natural and honey processed coffees.

Now, eighteen years later, the Las Lajas micromill has continued to produce some of the best natural process coffees, not only in Costa Rica, but in the entire world. This year’s crop reminds us of fresh strawberry, strawberry ice cream, and ripe raspberry, with a concentrated and pure sweetness like cane sugar. Grab a bag, and you’ll see why Las Lajas is one of our most popular coffees every year!

H1 is a relatively new varietal in coffee agriculture, a hybrid created to have a high yield while resisting the dreaded ‘leaf rust,’ a fungus that damages coffee plants and leaves a distinctive rust colored spots on the leaves. This varietal is also known as ‘centroamericano,’ as it was made for the high altitude, agroforestry farms in Central America, such as Julio Melendez’s farm in Acatenango, Guatemala: Finca El Zapote.

Finca El Zapote is a farm that is near and dear to our hearts. Julio and his wife Christel are our head roaster Stephanie’s in-laws, and we have had the great honor to visit them on their farm twice now, and we are thrilled to have been able to purchase multiple wonderful coffees from them.

This H1 varietal is extremely sweet and silky, with a clean acidity. The coffee opens with crisp malic and tartaric acidity like apple and green grape, with a sweet nuttiness reminiscent of walnut. Whether you’re sitting on the porch at Finca El Zapote watching a small eruption from Volcán de Fuego, or sitting on your couch watching the Steelers pregame show, this coffee is sure to hit the spot.

Our medium blend. Full body, dark chocolate to the max.

Great for cold brew, drip and espresso, this is our most versatile coffee. A classic, rich and luscious blend made using two coffees that are outstanding on their own: A Colombian with high complexity and light, citrus acidity combined with a Brazilian with excellent body, and flavors of deep, dark chocolate and sweet toffee. The result is a deeply satisfying, classic blend—perfect in espresso drinks but also perfect as a brewed coffee for those who prefer bolder flavor, but don’t want to taste the flavor of char. This coffee is medium/dark–but still tastes fully of it’s intrinsic flavor.