Freak & Unique IV | Costa Rica | La Pastora

REGION : Terrazú ALTITUDE : 1,700 MASL VARIETAL : Catuai, Caturra PROCESS : Honey FLAVOUR NOTES : Prune, Green Apple, Cola Finca and Beneficiadora Santa Elena is a 46ha farm situated on the slopes of the Caraigres mountain in the Los Santos Region, also known as Tarrazu. This washed microlot is grown at 1,650masl and includes both Caturra and Catuai varieties. Coffee came to Costa Rica as early as 1779 and within 50 years was generating more revenue than any other crop, but by the 1830’s they were growing more coffee than the ships heading south could take. And virtually no infrastructure existed for transporting even a small amount of green coffee to the east coast of Costa Rica (where London was a mere 5,000 miles away). The distribution woes of Costa Rican coffee producers reached the ears of an up-and-coming shipping magnate named William Le Lacheur in 1841 and on Christmas day, 1841 he sailed The Monarch into port at Puntarenas, Costa Rica, and thus began a long and mutually beneficial relationship. On one voyage to London in late in 1843, the Monarch carried more than half a million pounds of Costa Rican coffee. Coffee grows in eight coffee regions throughout Costa Rica. In the central and northern highlands where most specialty coffee is found, coffee grows from 1200-1700 meters. Ninety percent of Costa Rican coffee is grown by 50,000 farmers on less than 5 hectares. Although nearly all Costa Rican coffee is wet milled, the country produces a wide variety of honey processed coffee. Coffee is dried using both patios and mechanical dryers. Costa Rica grows Typica, Caturra, Catuai, Villa Sarchi, Bourbon and Gesha.

This coffee-only edition of the La Pastora Freak & Unique release keeps the same natural anaerobic Costa Rican profile. Expect big cinnamon, warm spice, and a dash of spiced rum from a cup with real personality.

REGION : Jinotega ALTITUDE : 1,100 - 1,400 MASL VARIETAL : Catuai PROCESS : Natural FLAVOUR NOTES : Strawberry, , Black Grape, Blueberry The Cerro Datanlí - El Diablo Nature Reserve is a high massif rising between Matagalpa and Jinotega, part of Nicaragua’s Isabelia mountain range. It is a magical landscape, where birds and butterflies move through lush cloud forest and coffee trees cling to impossibly steep, shaded mountainsides. Datanlí is an indigenous word meaning “where water falls”, a fitting name for one of Jinotega’s richest and most diverse ecosystems. Water sources originate high in the mountains before flowing down through the reserve to the coffee farms below. Combined with favourable climatic conditions, fertile land and generations of agricultural knowledge, this abundant water helps create exceptional conditions for specialty coffee production. Coffee is the primary source of income for the farmers of the El Diablo community, many of whom manage medium-sized farms alongside crops grown for their own consumption. Catuai and Caturra remain the principal coffee varieties, while producers are increasingly planting Pacamara and hybrid varieties such as Catimor to bring greater diversity to their farms. The region has gradually shifted from large-scale commercial coffee towards specialty production, building on agricultural systems already well adapted to its particular landscape and climate. Today, producers combine careful processing with environmentally conscious practices, including wastewater treatment, using coffee pulp as fertiliser and planting living barriers and windbreaks around their farms. The result is a distinctive expression of this remarkable landscape, with notes of chocolate and red fruit, a medium body and bright malic acidity.

Princess Geisha with her gold tooth and matching earrings, runs barefoot through the land of falling cherry blossom, plucking giant litchis from melon clouds. Our very limited series, Freak & Unique continues with this Natural process delight from Bolivia. This coffee is available with or without an unframed risograph print by Emma Gallacher (numbered edition of 10). FARM: Rodriguez Family FarmREGION: CaranaviALTITUDE: 1500-1650 MASLVARIETAL: GeishaPROCESS: Natural This beautiful lot for Freak & Unique IX is a Geisha from a plot on one of the Los Rodriguez farms, with the coffee grown amongst native trees, shade and patches of wild forest to help conserve the biodiversity of the farms. Once harvested, the cherries are taken on the same day to the Buena Vista Mill. After washing and floating the Geisha cherries are directly moved to raised beds for 3-4 days before being dried in mechanical dryers: big square boxes with hot airflow. When on sunbeds, the coffee is moved every 30 min in the morning and every hour in the afternoon. The cherries are dried on beds for a week before they are placed into mechanical dryers that recreate day and night light to ensure low and consistent drying without rain issues. Every bed has its own tunnel with a plastic sheet to cover in case of rain – whilst it rained a lot before the harvest this year (7,000 mm instead of usual 2,500mm), the weather during the harvest has been great making it easier to produce incredible naturals this season. When they reach 12% moisture content and after a few hours of resting, all coffee is bagged with Ecotact and Jute/plastic bags and sent to the dry mill in La Paz - the lots sit there in parchment until they are prepared for export. * Please note due to the extremely limited availability of this coffee, we will be roasting once weekly. This may add a small delay to online orders. *