Oscar and Francisca Chacón farm is located at 1,300 to 1,500 meters above sea level in the foothills of Poás volcano, Los Angeles Sabanilla de Alajuela, an excellent location for specialty coffee.

This particular plot is processed as “Black Honey”, which consists on a form of semi-washing wherein the cherry skin and most of the fruit are stripped away and the remaining sticky mucilage is left to dry on the parchment coffee. Skipping the washing process and controlled fermentation stages are what have made this coffee have more fruity flavours. “Black honeys” usually have the maximum amount of fruit left on the seed after pulping, although each producer can describe their honey color differently.

Oscar proudly told us about how they overcame the difficult scenery left by the earthquake that hit Costa Rica in February 2008. Because of the multiples landslides in the area, the access to water became difficult and a huge concern for the upcoming coffee harvest. Oscar and Francisca knew that they had to do something about it, to be able to process their coffee and keep operations running.

Far from giving up, they coped the situation through innovation. Taking example on Ethiopia and Brazil processing; they took the risk, something that has never been done before in Costa Rica to process their coffee naturally instead of the washed process. They were convinced by the results in cup, the local reaction was still skeptical and reluctant. Support came from overseas with very positive feedbacks from international importers. Since then and with a lot of work, they became a reference in the specialty scene for honey and natural processes and are now considered as pioneers in Latin America. We have here a very interesting example of resilience through innovation in coffee production.