Costa Rica - La Isla Yellow Honey

Varietal –  Villa Sarchi
Preparation – Yellow Honey
Location – Naranjo, West Valley
Altitude – 1550 masl
Importer - Horsham Coffee Roaster

This is a fantastic yellow honey processed coffee from La Isla farm in the West Valley, Costa Rica. They won 10th place at the 2020 Cup of Excellence competition with the submission of one of the micro lots.

We are super excited to be sourcing our Costa Rican coffees directly. We source our Costa Rican coffees in partnership with Selva Coffee, a small exporter representing a select group of coffee producers that we visited in February 2020 and December 2022.

These producers are located in the West Valley, Central Valley, and Tarrazu region of Costa Rica. You can read more about our direct trade coffees in our Transparency Report. The video below was filmed in February 2020.

Farm Overview

La Isla is owned by Luis Padilla, who bought the farm in 2017. He was inspired by his grandfather, who owned a coffee farm for many years in the Naranjo region. The farm covers 10.5 hectares and is located at 1500 masl growing a mix of Villa Sarchi, Geisha and SL-28. These are kept separate during the harvest. Luis is focusing on the regeneration of the farm, and in the video, you can clearly identify the section of the farm with healthy trees. They are working their way through the farm with a view to regenerating the entire 10.5 hectares. 

Harvesting and Processing:

This coffee has been harvested from Villa Sarchi trees. All harvesting is done by hand, keeping the different varietals separate from each other. After harvest, the coffee is pulped using a new Penagos DCV-4000 eco-pulper. This is a low-water, eco machine that removes the fruit using very little water, reducing any negative impact on the environment. The Penagos pulper also separates and sorts any underripe coffee helping to add an extra layer of sorting.

Alexander, Amelia, James and Bradley with Luis Padilla

The definition of honey-processed coffee can vary from farm to farm. La Isla yellow honey is produced by removing most of the fruit, leaving just a small amount of mucilage on the coffee for the drying stage. This is completed on a concrete patio with the coffee laid out in beautiful patterns and moved regularly to ensure even drying. The drying stage takes about ten days.

Tasting Notes:

This is lovely clean, bright, crisp and juicy honey processed coffee. It showcases wonderful sweetness with a crisp red apple acidity and subtle notes of berries that include raspberry, apple and caramel. There is a silky, creamy body with caramel-like sweetness.

Brewing: