CUP OF EXCELLENCE COSTA RICA – Finca Chispita
In every industry you need people to set the bar, that are committed to excellence and diversity of a global community. When it comes to the coffee, that's the Cup of Excellence (CoE).
Specifically today we are talking about a really exceptional farm which has stood out in this competition, consistently sitting in the top ranking, with coffee scoring higher than 88 in the last three years, in one of the most quality recognised coffee producing countries in the world, Costa Rica: Finca Chispita -annually more than 2,000 farms participate in the Costa Rica CoE, each one of them producing incredible speciality grade, top quality coffees-
At Coffee Gems we managed to secure a small lot of approx. 80 bags of 200g from Finca Chispita, soon to be roasted, which will be privately offered, initially, to regular Coffee Gems customers, subscribers and followers.
Farming
Finca Chispita is situated in Cirri Sur, Naranjo, and is part of the Alajuela province. This award winning Costa Rica farm is the result of the hard work and dedication of Don Carlos. He and his wife, Diana own five small farms and La Perla Del Cafe Micromill —”micro” being the key word here, not only produces about 300 bags a year, but their dedication to quality means they focus on quality over quantity in all ways. They work with the exact same group of pickers every year, a group of 45 indigenous people from Panama, who travel to the farms for work every season, and with whom they keep in touch, like family, the rest of the year.
This year the farm produced a Kenia SL28 as a natural and golden honey process, a change from their normal honeys or washed process coffees.
He was the first producer in Costa Rica to be given SL-28 and rather than hoard the special variety for himself, he has distributed seeds to friends and neighbours for the past few years. Don Carlos believes that growing non-traditional varieties, in addition to focusing on honey and natural processing, will be what allows him to differentiate La Perla’s coffee from others in the region.
Farm Name: Finca Chispita
Farmer: Carlos Barrantes
Score: 88.44
Altitude: 1500 masl
Variety: Kenia SL28
Acidity: Lemon Lime, Citric, Malic, Soft
Processing System: Golden Honey
Country: Costa Rica
Roasting
High quality coffee deserves a careful quality roasting process, and lucky for us we have been playing around with the roast degree to create a profile that can reflect all of the complexity of these world-class beans into a single cup, exploring different profiles to discover the best roasting point. All of the flavours you taste are the result of the sugar development. The light degree of the roasting helps to conserve the full flavours and makes for a perfectly clean cup.
Brewing
The way in which your coffee is brewed plays just as much a part in the flavour process, as the farming and roasting itself. To get the best results from Chispita, we recommend soft brewing or traditional pour over methods; this can include Chemex, filter drippers/V60 and Aeropress. A brew temperature of approximately 93 degrees will ensure a perfect cup, but if you’re brewing in the comfort of your own home, pour just off boiling point.
Tasting Notes
Black Grape, White Peach, Black Cherry, Tropical Fruits and Chocolate
Pour Over
Dose: 15g
Time: 2 min
Water: 250ml
Grind: Medium
Chemex (6 Cup)
Dose: 50g
Time: 4;30
Water: 700ml
Grind: Almost as coarse as plunger
Aeropress
Dose: 16g
Time: 2 min
Water 200ml
Grind: Slightly coarser than medium
About The CoE
Cup of Excellence is the most prestigious competition and auction for high quality coffees. The level of scrutiny that Cup of Excellence coffees undergo is unmatched anywhere in the specialty coffee industry. Each year, thousands of coffees are submitted for consideration, with winning coffees sold in global online auctions at premium prices (in average a coffee scored 90 could be sold at £90 - £100 x kg green bean), with the vast majority of auction proceeds going to the farmers. Many of which tune in for the live auction themselves.
The competition has pioneered integrity and transparency in the coffee industry, right down to each lot being documented through the entire process so that winning coffees are traceable to the farm and exact micro-lot.
CoE raises funds for coffee farmers in coffee growing countries incentivising and motivating farmers who know there can be a recognition and financial reward for their hard work and effort.
A rigorous series of events, that has earned the respect of the coffee industry, and coffee drinkers alike.
About Kenya SL28 Variety
Scott Laboratories (SL) was hired by the Kenyan government in the 1930s to develop stronger, drought-resistant varieties. With SL-28, they failed in their mission to create a high-yield tree, but succeeded in creating delicious beans, with an intensely citric, sweet, balanced and complex flavour. Although mainly cultivated in Kenya, Malawi and Uganda recently is being cultivated in some countries of Latin America.