Costa Rica Hacienda La Amistad

With notes of chocolate, blackberry, dried plum and cinnamon, the Hacienda La Amistad is smooth and sweet.

Hacienda La Amistad is a third generation coffee farm, and the producer Roberto Montero is dedicated to producing exceptional coffee in harmony with the environment, using organic, bird friendly methods and letting his coffee cherries ripen slowly so they develop their rich flavours. This in turn creates a harmonious coffee in the cup, all wrapped up in a velvety smooth body.

COFFEE ORIGIN

Country: Costa Rica, Central America
Region: Coto Brus, Putaneras
Farm: La Amistad 
Producer: Roberto Montero 
Varietals: Caturra & Catuai
Process: Honey 
Altitude: 1200 – 1600 masl

Roberto Montero’s grandfather came to what is now the Cotos Brus canton in the early 1900s as a surveyor, mapping out this slice of the Putaneras which runs between the Cordillera de Talamanca and Fila Zapote mountain ranges, down to the Panama border.
He decided to stay in this paradise, and purchased 25 000 acres which he called La Amistad.

Three generations  and 120 years on, 15,000 acres of that original plot has been handed back to the Costa Rican people as La Amistad International Park, the largest natural reserve in Central America. Of the remaining 10,000 acres which makes up Hacienda La Amistad, 750 acres are planted with coffee.  Reducing the size of the harvest has allowed Roberto to focus entirely on quality, producing world-beating microlots like this one.

TASTING NOTES & CUPPING PROFILE

Tis the season for a sweet treat and Costa Rica Hacienda La Amistad has the perfect flavour profile to match!

Aromas: coffee blossom
Flavours: chocolate, blackberry, cinnamon, prune
Acidity: citrus
Body: velvet
Aftertaste: chocolate malt
Cupping Score: 87/100.

Honey processing means that the coffee cherries are peeled after harvest, and the sweet fruit is dried down to a sticky shell, which infuses the coffee beans inside with dessert flavours of fruit and sugar. The aromatics are floral, with notes of delicate coffee blossom in the coffee grounds.

Flavours of chocolate, decadent dried plum and juicy blackberry are lifted by a twist of cinnamon spice. Velvety body balances a clean citrus acidity, and the cup finishes in a beautiful chocolate malt flavour.

Our cupping panel were particularly taken with the balance of the cup - all the flavours singing together in perfect harmony – and scored Hacienda La Amistad 87 out of a possible 100 points.

BREW GUIDE

Coffee and a pastry is a classic pairing for good reason, and these are our top 3 picks for enjoying Costa Rica La Hacienda and Milano Bakehouse pastries in December:

• Iced latte and a croissant. Two classics, they were never going to be beaten. December is for celebrations and iced coffees are much better (and safer!) for cheersing than hot coffees. Pastry flakes down your shirt are basically delicious confetti, and if anyone gives you a hard time about being messy please remind them it’s the silly season.
  
  
• Double shot flat white and a marritozzo. The double flat white is for our stressed adult self getting ready to brave the shopping centre for that last minute present, a tray of mangoes or another roll of sticky tape, the traditional Italian cream bun is for our inner child. Soft brioche and cream in one hand, chocolate, malt and cinnamon flavours from the Hacienda La Amistad in the other. Everyone is happy.
  
  
• Pourover and a blueberry danish. Pourovers do two things which are both equally important in this scenario. Firstly, they allow us to slow down and focus on one thing: carefully pouring the hot water in a spiral motion through the grounds is about as mindful as it gets. Secondly, this gentle method of brewing brings the fruit flavours of the Costa Rica La Amistad forward so that the tart blackberry and intense dried plum give the black coffee a clean sweetness and depth. A perfect match for our danish.