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Limited Drop
Once Upon A Time coffees are limited to a select number of boxes each weekly release.
They are roasted and shipped every Monday and limited to only the first 20 orders each week. So put your order in now to grab a spot.
Once Upon A Time - Finca Sabana Redonda SL28 Boxed Set, Beneficio Las Lajas- Costa Rica
Regular price$28.00 Sale price
Quick Coffee Info:
For our very first Once Upon A Time project coffee we have a remarkable and unique once ever offering from the world famous coffee artists Francisca and Oscar owners of Beneficio Las Lajas in the Central Valley of Costa Rica.
Finca Sabana Redonda SL28 Natural Aerobic & Anaerobic Processing Boxed Set:
-
Diamante Negra- Natural Aerobic Process
Processed like an anaerobic button open tanks with oxygen then dried 50% African raised bed & 50% on patios in the sun -
Diamante Noble - Natural Anaerobic Process
Anaerobic in sealed airtight tanks w/ no additives, just coffee cherries then dried 100% on patios in the sun
(Each box has one of each coffee so you can taste these magical coffees side by side!)
For these two Once Upon A Time project coffees Francisca & Oscar chose the Kenya SL-28 varietal from their Sabana Redonda farm on the slopes of the Poás volcano. They then processed the same coffee using their two most demanding processing methods. You get to taste the same coffee & the same varietal processed using two similar, but distinct methods. Coffee is magic.
SL-28 is a slow maturing coffee shrub with remarkable sweetness and complex flavors. Francisca picked the sweetest coffees (measured by Brix levels) at two stages of the harvest of the SL-28 cherry from Finca Sabana Redonda and did their two most labor intensive processes on them.
They picked the sweetest, ripest cherries in the beginning of the harvest and did a Las Lajas special process called Diamante Negra. This is a remarkably complex process that begins with Natural Aerobic processing (the opposing cousin to anaerobic!) to develop incredibly complex flavors and attributes.
Diamante Negra- Aerobic Natural processing - 24 days total
- 50% African raised bed - 10 days drying
- 50% Greenhouse Patio drying - 14 days drying
- Pick of the beginning of the harvest -highest brix
- Lower Temperatures - slower drying, continuous turning
And then as the harvest progressed Francisca chose again the sweetest, highest Brix content cherries from the Sabana's SL-28 picks and did an immaculately clean Natural Anaerobic process called Diamante Doble to develop a different set of flavors and complexities.
Diamante Doble
- Anaerobic Natural processing - stainless steel tanks 76 hour ferment
- 100% Raised Bed drying - 24 days drying
- Pick of the harvest -highest brix
- Higher Temperatures - faster drying, continuous turning
For our very first Once Upon A Time project coffee we couldn't choose between these two stunning coffees. So we bought both.
Then we had Francisca vacuum pack them both in small 30kilo bags to preserve their immaculate fresh harvest flavor. And then we knew we just had to have them here now. So we arranged to air freight these two coffees directly from Las Lajas to our coffee roastery in San Diego via DHL.
Francisca and Oscar received $9.50/lb for these coffees and since our Proportional Pricing model means we always ensure the producers receive 20% of the full retail value of their coffee it also means you get them at a fantastic price.
Beneficio Las Lajas ranks as one of the most progressive, high-quality coffee mills in all of Costa Rica. Francisca Cubillo and Oscar Chacón are the third generation of coffee producers in Costa Rica and the first once to process their own coffee. Las Lajas is one of the few farms in Costa Rica growing Organic coffee. Las Lajas specializes in several different types of honey-processed coffees as well as natural process coffees.
Sabana Redonda, it is one of the higher elevation farms that Las Lajas owns. This one is located on the foothills of “Poás” volcano at an altitude of 1600 meters above the sea level. The farm is truly excellent for specialty coffee due to its cool climate conditions and the volcanic soil.
Las Lajas micromill has perfected the craft of producing exceptional coffees using either method. Their Natural coffee process: Perla Negra and Alma Negra, and their Honey process: Yellow Honey, Red Honey and Black Honey consistently win awards for clarity and flavor. Black Honey refers to a method by which 100 percent of the mucilage is left after de-pulping and the coffee is turned once per day while drying. This technique allows the fruit more time to penetrate the coffee’s parchment layer, imparting a very sweet and unique profile.
Producers: Francisca Cubillo and Oscar Chacón
Country: Costa Rica
Region: Poás Volcano
Farm: Finca Sabana Redonda
Varietal: SL-28, Bourbon, Caturra & many experimental varietals
Process: Honey, Natural, Natural Aerobic, Natural Anaerobic
Altitude: 1,600-1,750 MASL
Exporter: SMS Costa Rica
Importer: Atlantic Specialty
SCA Quality Score: 91.5
Coffee Producer info. Benefico Las Lajas Sabana Redonda
Producer Magic
The Once Upon a Time project is our ode to the wizardry of coffee producers. It is a project designed to bring to light the truly magical coffees these storied coffee producers are capable of when they can freely practice coffee alchemy. Stirring together their unique fusion of terroir, cultivar, process and craft to create something rarified and magical.
Coffee Alchemy
Incredible coffees that redefine what coffee can be while giving voice and equity to the coffee producers. These magical coffees from storied producers are meticulously crafted, astoundingly delicious, infinitesimally micro and available only once.
Mystic Box
Every week you have the opportunity to be one of the lucky ones with a limited offering of the Once Upon A Time project coffee. Every micro batch is custom roasted to order just for you. These mythic coffees are appropriately cradled in mystical scrolls and locked inside the Torque Coffee Box. When they are gone they are gone, never to return again.
20% Farmer Equity
When you buy a box of Torque coffee the coffee producer (farmer or cooperative) was pre-paid 20% of the retail price you paid. Proportional Pricing is the Producers Equity.
