Costa Rica
Tarrazú
Pablo Bonilla
El Pedregal
Catuai
Red Honey
January
Brown Sugar, Cacao Nibs, Citrus, Vanilla
1675 meters
NAMA Café
69 kg w/ GrainPro
SOLD OUT
Operated by Pablo Bonilla, Don Mayo Micromill is a family business which was founded in 2006 in the Tarrazú region of Costa Rica. Pablo’s family has been producing coffee for three generations in the Los Santos Zone, specifically in the cantons of León Cortes and Tarrazú, and today they have farms ranging from 1650–2000 meters above sea level alongside their family mill. At the farms, Catuai is the predominantly cultivated variety, though some lots are planted with less common varieties such as Java, Gesha, and others.
Don Mayo Micromill is outfitted with state-of-the-art machinery and is committed to producing high quality lots of coffee. This commitment is demonstrated through the mill’s success in Costa Rica’s Cup of Excellence competition, having auctioned more than 35 lots through the competition and placing first in both 2009 and 2020.
This lot of Catuai coffee underwent Red Honey processing at Don Mayo Micromill. Coffee cherries were fermented for 12 hours before being pulped, making sure to leave all of the coffee’s mucilage intact. The pulped coffee is then rested on the concrete patio for two days without being moved. Then, the coffee is dried on the patio for one week, being moved during this time, before drying is completed in the guardiola at the mill to ensure uniformity.
The Tarrazú region lies in the high mountains of the southern Pacific region south of Costa Rica’s capital city of San Jose and is one of the most densely planted high altitude regions in Central America, with many farms at or above 2000 meters above sea level. It is locally known as “Zona de Los Santos” for the number of towns with “San” or “Santa” in their names.
Tarrazú’s climate is characterized by two well-defined seasons; a rainy season lasting seven months (May through November) and a dry season (December through April). This encourages uniform coffee blossoming. On average, precipitation is between 2,400 millimeters (94.5 inches) per year, with an average annual temperature of 19°C (66.2°F).
The fertile, volcanic soils and rolling mountainsides of Tarrazu are well-suited for agriculture, and smallholders grow bananas, avocado, and citrus as well as coffee on properties passed between generations. The spirit of community and family is strong in Tarrazu, with producers caring for their land with pride. Many farms in Tarrazú include primary forest and some degree of shade trees interspersed with coffee and producers take care to protect the natural water sources that spring up from the mountainsides.
