Costa Rica - Hacienda Sonora

SWEET & FRUITY

Origin: Costa Rica
Region: Central Valley
Producer: Alberto & Diego Guardia
Altitude: 1400 meters above sea level
Variety: Obata
Process: Natural
Roast level: Light roast
SCA Score: 87.5 points

Hacienda Sonora is located at the foot of Poas Volcano in Carrillo, Alajuela. The farm covers approximately 100 hectares, including 65 hectares of shaded coffee and 35 hectares of wild forest reserve. Coffee is grown here surrounded by diverse trees and other vegetation, providing excellent conditions for production and improving the chemistry of the already rich volcanic soil. 
Alberto Guardia is the fourth generation of coffee producers in his family. In 1999, during a period of historically low coffee prices, Alberto invested in a mill for the estate and became a pioneer in alternative processing methods in the area, implementing Honey and Natural processing to his production. Hacienda Sonora has now been in the family for more than a century. Alberto’s son Diego joined the operation as co-manager in 2011 and now represents the fifth generation of coffee producers in the Guardia family.

Today, all coffee from Sonora is processed using Honey or Natural methods to develop distinct sweetness and enhanced fruit notes. This lot of Obata underwent Natural processing and was dried on large black sheets made of braided plastic threads, known as zaran.
The harvested cherries are first floated in fresh spring water to remove defects and field impurities, then spread in thin layers on the zaran and dried in direct sunlight. At the end of each day, the sheets are rolled up with a tractor and stacked overnight. Drying takes around two weeks, until the coffee reaches 14% humidity. The coffee is then stored in Sonora’s warehouse to rest. Shortly before milling, the drying process is completed in mechanical dryers known as “guardiolas.”