Drop Coffees - La Pira, Anaerobic Typica, Costa Rica
Flavour description: This is a delicate yet flavourful coffee. The Typica from La Pira has an aroma of cream and hazelnut. In the cup, you have flavour notes of chocolate spread, a hint of white tea and a cooling finish of black currant. The body is light to medium in weight and gives a silky, almost lactic, mouthfeel.
Colour: Purple
Category: Adventurous
Producer and owner: Carlos Ureña Ceciliano with daughter Ana Ureña Ceciliano
Farm: Finca La Pira
Region: Tarrazú
City: Santa María de Dota
Farm size: 7 hectares
Altitude: 1650 masl
Harvest: February 2022
Varietal: Typica
Processing: Anaerobic
Price transparency: The FOB price paid for this coffee is 11 US$/lb.
Roast style: We are roasting this coffee for vibrancy and clarity in the cup, with a light to medium roast profile.
This is the third year that we are buying coffee from La Pira, but this year we have a few different cups. The Typica Variety is not commonly seen in Costa Rica. The La Pira Typica, is not a loud coffee, but it is one of the silkiest and most delightful coffees we have ever tasted. And we are convinced that is all from Carlos Ureña combined approach of science and bio-dynamic in his coffee growing and processing.
About the farm
Carlos is working with an interesting mixture of science and biodynamic agriculture. He is going out in the morning to hear where the birds are singing, telling him what is going on where among the coffee trees, analyzing the farm by nature. Where the birds are gives him an indication of ripeness, flowering and challenges at the farm. He is making his own fertilizer and using the waste energy of the coffee processing for the coffee pulper.
Visiting La Pira and walking the farm, you never want to leave. You want to hear more about Carlos harvesting methods and turn upside down on more of his theories. With the whole family - Ureña Ceciliano, Carlos’ daughter, called Ana Ureña Ceciliano, is a great support and keeping the business on track. His grandchildren like spending time at La Pira too.
Sustainability
After inheriting the family farm, Carlos worked for many years as a certified organic coffee producer, but he realized doing so was just not possible on this farm. Organic coffee is good, but not possible for everyone. The yield was very, very affected by leaf rust a few years back. So Carlos looked for alternatives, while still holding organic and biodynamic principles very close to his heart. For instance, instead of using chemicals to control the weeds, he has sheep roaming freely among the coffee plants eating the weeds (and strangely leave the coffee plants alone). They work as automatic and mobile 'fertilization units' (nature’s a wonderful thing). This has eliminated the need for herbicides. This is the kind of thinking Carlos has about coffee. Salary for pickers are generally good in Costa Rica, but many farmers are using workers from neighbouring countries, paying cheaper salaries and sometimes working harder during the harvest. Carlos is using local workers and paying the workers more than the government established wages.
The FOB prices for this coffee is 11 USD per pound.