Costa Rica Micro-Lot Blend
Limited Edition new roast at the Coffee Company
Ari Weinzweig, CEO & Co-Founder of Zingerman’s
This is one of the most exciting new coffee arrivals on our counter in years. Steve Mangigian, the managing partner of the Coffee Company, has been down there at least three times in the last few years working with the Guardian family. I’m happy to say that the rest of us now get to enjoy the fruits of their, and his, labors! The coffee comes from Hacienda Miramonte, who we’ve been working with for a number of years now. As our collaborations become more closely coordinated, the coffees just keep getting better.
In 1917, Hacienda Miramonte, marvelously—and unusually for that era—was started by a woman. Lucila Duval de Morales decided to do something constructive and, in the tradition that still sticks in Costa Rica, completely non-violent. She broke social norms by buying her own land and planting coffee bushes. She then set up her own business and built a plantation there. The farm is still family owned by her descendants and run with the same passion that Lucila had all those years ago in the town of Heredia, in the region of Naranjo de Alajuela.
This new micro lot is a particularly special offering—it’s a blend of three different micro lots that Steve personally selected during his visit last year. One of them is rare and unusual for Costa Rica’s “natural” process coffee. Most beans from Costa Rica are “washed”—water is used to remove the coffee fruit from the bean inside. The special roast includes one “naturally” processed coffee—the beans were dried, old-school, with the fruit still attached. Naturally processed coffees are known for having amazing natural sweetness and a rich, velvety body. And we definitely taste those characteristics here.
The finished coffee is delicate and nutty, with a really nice body. It’s supple, but more substantial than most Costa Rican coffees. Try it in a pour-over, or perhaps better still, a syphon pot where the flavors come cleanly and clearly to the fore. Enjoy it with one of those great Tahini cookies from the Bakehouse or a slice of the Portuguese cinnamon toast at the Coffee Company. It’s a beautiful thing to behold. Raise your cup in a toast to Lucila Duval de Morales, 100 years ahead of her time, and a model of a leader creatively making her way in a male-dominated world. The fruits of her high-quality efforts are clearly evident in the quality of this cup her grandchildren have helped to create.
Costa Rica Hacienda Miramonte Microlot Blend is here for a limited time, grab it here!
Excerpt from Ari’s weekly Top 5 E-Newsletter. To stay in-the-know about things that Ari is excited about in the Zingerman’s family, sign up here!
