Producer: Alejo Khale Castro
Farm: Volcán Azul
Region: Poás Volcano, Alajuela
Altitude: 1,600-1,650 masl | 5,249-5,413 feet
Varietal: Gesha
Process: Anaerobic Natural
Roast: Light-Medium
Notes: Port, Cocoa Nib, Macerated Strawberry

Available whole bean in an 8oz or 4oz pouch. This coffee roasts and ships on Tuesdays only. See below for more details.

Volcán Azul is one of the foremost coffee producers in Costa Rica, with a history reaching back to the 19th century. Today, the Kahle family's focus on quality coffee, careful processing, and ecological conservation sets it apart.

Alejo Castro Kahle planted this Gesha lot in 2017. Anaerobic processing emphasizes fruity, slightly boozy notes, adding a new dimension of flavor to this natural Gesha:

"The brix (sugar content) of the Gesha cherries is measured prior to harvesting, to ensure ideal maturation has been reached.

"After harvesting, the cherries are collected in sealed fermentation tanks with a one-way valve, allowing fermentation gases to escape. These sealed containers are set in the path of the sun to allow fermentation temperatures to reach up to 30C (86F).

"Brix and pH are measured throughout the fermentation process. After 6 days, the cherries are moved to raised beds to dry for 6 days and then to a mechanical dryer for 31 hours."

From the Kahle Family:

“As the descendants of 19th-century coffee planters Don Alejo C. Jimenez and Don Wilhelm Kahle, we want to enhance the principles of quality inherited from our ancestors by adding the value of conservancy of natural resources, through the acquisition of extensions of natural rainforest for its protection and conservation. These are small actions taken by one family to reduce air contamination and global warming.

“We have been committed to protecting vast extensions of tropical rainforest in Costa Rica since the 1980s. We have come to acquire over 1,500 hectares of rainforest for ecological preservation in areas where we grow our coffee as well as in the Osa Peninsula, a region in the South of Costa Rica known for holding 2.5% of the Earth’s biodiversity. This is the attitude towards the environment that we want to pass on to our children and future generations of our family.”