Honey Processed Coffee from Café Rivense in Costa Rica

If you’ve been on the Andytown coffee journey for several years, you’re likely familiar with coffees from the Los Cipreses farm in Costa Rica. We’ve gone back and forth over the years, purchasing two types of honey-processed coffees from them, and this year, we’re returning to the full honey coffee we fell in love with many years ago.

Regulo Ureña founded the Café Rivense del Chirripó Micromill with his wife, Isabel Rojas. They run the business with their children Ricardo, Mario, and Esteban. Their youngest, Tatiana, is finishing school, and their son Luis is studying medicine. Café Rivense also works with other farmers in their region, helping them process their coffees.

Los Cipreses is owned by the Ureña Rojas family, who also founded the Café Rivense del Chirripó Micromill in 2005. At that time, the Brunca region wasn’t known for producing high-quality coffees, and local co-ops purchased cherries from farmers to produce conventional coffees. To produce higher-quality coffees and receive better prices, the family founded the mill to gain control over post-harvest processing. The first few years were tough. International coffee prices were low, and there was a lack of information on processing and financing coffee projects. Neighbors had little faith in their success, but after years of hard work and perseverance, Café Rivense gained recognition for producing high-quality coffees. In 2019, one of their coffees received 5th place in the Costa Rica Cup of Excellence.

IN THE FULL HONEY PROCESS, COFFEE CHERRIES ARE DEPULPED AND PLACED ON RAISED DRYING BEDS WITH THE MUCILAGE 100% INTACT.

THE MUCILAGE—OR HONEY—BECOMES STICKIER AS IT DRIES, AND THE COFFEES ARE RAKED ON A REGULAR BASIS TO PROMOTE EVEN DRYING AND BREAK UP ANY CLUMPING.

Café Rivense employs a variety of processes, but they’ve honed in on honey processing. There are varying degrees of honey: white, yellow, red, and black (or full honey). In the honey process, ripe red cherries are picked, and the cherry skins are removed before placing them on drying beds. White honey has the least amount of mucilage left intact, while full honey has all of its mucilage intact. The more mucilage there is, the longer it takes to dry and the higher the susceptibility to defects. In other words, producing a full honey coffee is labor-intensive, but when done right, the result is a sweet and syrupy coffee.

This lovely coffee from the Ureña Rojas family reminds us of red grape, dried fig, and toffee. It is well-balanced with a silky mouthfeel and finish, making it a great choice for any time of the day!