Costa Rica
Brunca
Alvarado Fonseca Family
Corazon de Jesus
Milenio F1
Double Anaerobic Natural
December–February
Brown Sugar, Caramel, Cherry, Dark Chocolate, Grape
1700 meters
N/A
30 kg VacPack
APAC - Melbourne - RPM
Located in Costa Rica’s youngest coffee region, Brunca, Corazón de Jesús Micromill is owned by the Alvarado Fonseca family. The family established their business in November 2015 with a mission to earn recognition nationally and internationally for their quality and innovation while always working in harmony with the environment. Operations at the micromill primarily focuses on processing coffees from the Chirripó microregion, like this lot of Milenio from Los Toños.
The Alvarado Fonseca family have established themselves already as producers of high-quality coffees, shown by their fifth and third place awards in the 2021 and 2022 Costa Rica Cup of Excellence.
This coffee underwent Double Anaerobic Natural processing at Corazón de Jesús Micromill. First, freshly harvested coffee cherries were fermented in sealed barrels for 12 hours. The fermented cherries were then dried on raised beds to reach a lower humidity level before being fermented a second time. The cherries were returned to the barrels and sealed for a second fermentation cycle for 48 hours; this period of fermentation, drying, and fermentation takes 4–8 depending on several conditions like the amount of mucilage in the cherries. After the second fermentation is complete, the cherries are then dried on raised beds for four days, and then dried on drying patios for approximately 45 days. To reach the optimal humidity for milling and shipment.
The Brunca growing region is in the southern area of Costa Rica and comprises the two youngest coffee producing cantons in the country, Coto Brus and Pérez Zeledón. The region is bordered by Panama to the East, the Pacific Ocean to the South and West, and the Cordillera de Talamanca mountains—home to Chirripó, the tallest peak in Costa Rica—to the North.
The Coto Brus canton experiences average temperatures of 18–26°C and a mean elevation of 955 meters. Coffee cultivation here began in the 1950s when Italian settlers and local Costa Ricans established the first coffee farms in the area. Today, the economy of the canton revolves almost entirely around coffee, with 2,600 producers across 75 communities cultivating the crop.
Pérez Zeledón canton, located in the northwest of the Brunca growing region, has developed an economy characterized mostly by agriculture, livestock, trade, industry, and tourism. The primary agriculture in the canton today is sugar cane and coffee, with other fruits and vegetables cultivated as well. Pérez Zeledón’s geographic positioning is prime to connect the Costa Rican capital of San José with the southern areas of the country, especially regions which border Panama such as Coto Brus.
