The story behind our new Blueberry Anaerobic
By far the best part of our job is to visit the producing countries and meet the actors, too often forgotten, behind our morning cup of coffee. This year, we had the chance to visit Costa Rica, a pioneer in the innovation of specialized coffee processing techniques. Our mission: to maintain privileged long-term relationships with producers and to find the best coffees for you to discover. From farm to farm, from family to family, we make unforgettable encounters with generous and welcoming producers. We also have the chance to work with them and participate in the creation of new ideas to bring the taste of coffee to a unique and distinguished level.
“It has now been seven years since I set foot in a first coffee plantation. It was a pivotal moment for me. Since then, my goal has been to learn as much as possible about the world of coffee. So I started my journey by becoming a barista, then becoming a roaster and finally a manager. My greatest desire was to go back to the source to develop relationships directly with the producers. And Boom! Here we are, seven years later, in Costa Rica visiting several incredible plantations, to find exceptional coffees. »
- Dominic Lyster, manager and roaster at Brûleries Faro
When our team arrived at La Candelilla, they had the pleasure of meeting Ricardo Sanchez, a young producer and owner of the farm. He wanted to create a product that was completely new, a product that would build a bridge between Quebec and Costa Rica. We brought Ricardo blueberries from Quebec, and he produced a truly magical product. We mixed this fruit with its exceptional coffee in an anaerobic way; fermentation that occurs in a container with little or no oxygen. We knew it was not his first experimentation with anaerobic fermentation; he had previously impressed us with his coffee beans fermented with passion fruit.
"An anaerobic with blueberries?" » you will say... well, why not! We wanted to experiment, try new things, and push the limits, all to offer you a one-of-a-kind product. This coffee is the result of a collaboration that has lasted for several years and we hope that by tasting it, you will be able to denote aromas which will make you travel with us.
About La Candelilla
La Candelilla was one of the first micromills in Tarrazu, opening in the year 2000, though the idea to open the mill came to the growers in 1997, during a coffee crisis. It's a collaboratively owned micromill, established by 7 smallholder producers in Tarrazu: The farmers who use it and deliver their harvests to the mill share ownership. This lot is from one of the founders of the mill, Ricardo Hernandez Naranjo, who was one of the first to suggest to his farmer mates that they should start the "mini beneficio."
Don Ricardo has been growing coffee for 32 years, and is dedicated to the process, as are many of the producers who have utilize La Candelilla. Don Ricardo also worked for 10 years as a consultant at beneficios in Costa Rica, Nicaragua, El Salvador, Honduras, Panama, and even Tanzania, helping mills improve their processing and learning more about coffee quality.
"The production of processing specialty coffees is something I have been studying for 15 years," he says through a translator. "I have had to develop the processes as well as to identify the different varieties for special batches." He grows several different varieties and processes them in many ways, including this Geisha Natural. His trees grow in rich ultisol, which is a type of red-clay soil that is particularly fertile in humid tropical or subtropical areas. This soil composition contains no calcium carbonate, or lime. Once the ripe cherry is brought to the mill, it is processed depending on the profile and the weather.