Sweet as honey, juicy as an apple, and smooth as nougat. That’s exactly what this Costa Rica El Trapiche Santa Rosa 1900 from Square Mile is like—it will win you over from the very first sip. In the cup, you’ll find the enchanting, pronounced sweetness of honey and nougat, which together are reminiscent of caramelized sugar. This sweetness blends with the delicate, elegant acidity of a baked apple, giving the coffee a pleasantly full body and reminding you of the taste of a freshly baked apple pie. The result is a juicy and balanced coffee that will delight all lovers of sweeter filter coffees.
Behind this coffee is the Naranjo family— Efraín “Macho” Naranjo and his son Kevin, who now runs the family’s Santa Rosa 1900 Micromill processing plant. It is located in the Santa Rosa Arriba de León Cortés region of Costa Rica, where coffee trees grow at an elevation of 1 ,700 to 1,900 meters. The family manages several coffee farms, including Finca Macho, named after Efraín, whose nickname has become a symbol of the family’s coffee business. This sweet Costa Rican coffee comes from their other farm, Finca El Trapiche. Another interesting fact is that the name El Trapiche aptly refers to a traditional sugarcane press, which is used in Costa Rica to produce unrefined cane sugar.
The Naranjo family is best known for the honey processing method, but this time they opted for the washed method. In this process, the skin and pulp are removed from the coffee cherries, and the beans are dried. This process helps bring out the purity of the flavor profile and the natural acidity. With the Catuaí variety, this results in a pleasantly sweet and juicy cup that is best enjoyed when brewed with a filter.
- Producers: Efraín “Macho” Naranjo and Kevin Naranjo
- Processing station: Santa Rosa 1900 Micromill
- Elevation: 1,700–1,900 m above sea level