Costa Rica La Piedra Red Honey

For the seventh year in a row, we are delighted to roast a newly harvested coffee from The Godfather of Honey Coffees, Luis Anastasio Castro, better known as Tacho. No one produces honey coffee better than he does. 

This is the only Honey lot we roast from the 2025 harvest from Don Tacho and his family, made from the Catuai & Caturra varieties. In this micro lot, the cherries have been peeled and then undergone spontaneous fermentation in their own sugar. The beans are left on drying beds for 14-18 days – depending on the air temperature – and slowly develop a complex sweetness. When the moisture content of the coffee reaches a couple of per cent above the final moisture content, the beans are packed in air-permeable sacks where they are left for five weeks before export. All these steps create a smooth coffee with sweet chocolate tones. Delicious in all types of brewing methods, including espresso.

Luis Anastasio Castro was one of the pioneers when they started building small processing stations in Costa Rica where often only one family can process their coffee themselves.The phenomenon was early called the "Micro Mill Revolution", as it broke a long-standing negative cycle in which the producers had to sell their coffee at world market prices to the local - often very large - exporters. Inspiration from this business model has since spread to surrounding countries, but it started in Costa Rica and it is also this way of producing coffee that is the very prerequisite for us to be able to offer fantastic microlotteries.

Tacho's processing station is called Juanachute, and here he - together with his children - takes the coffee from the tree into exported beans. The Castro family is involved in the coffee business in many different ways. One of Tacho's sons is responsible for barista training in the local high school and competes in the Barista Championship. Tacho's other son works at a coffee exporting company and builds relationships with customers. Tidigare i år så var hela familjen och hälsade på oss Gringosar.