Grand Cru: Costa Rica Los Madrigal Micromill Natural

Origin | Costa Rica

Roasters Notes | There is a distinctive fruity sweetness present in every cup and our Los Madrigal Grand Cru combines a buttery, creamy texture with stone fruit brightness. This is a coffee to savour, not to be rushed.

Diego Armando Madrigal Ureña and his brother inherited three, Santa Maria de Dota farms from their Grandfather when they were only 11 and 13 years old. So, they have been raised as coffee farmers. Coffee is in their blood.

 The farms are 1800 metres above sea level and encompass 25 hectares of Catuai, (a cross of Caturra and Mundo Novo coffees). Our Grand Cru coffee comes from their El Alto Vara Blanca farm, but what makes the Los Madrigal coffees so special, is the property’s micromill. They process their own coffee unlike most of the region’s coffee that is processed in co-operative or shared facilities. This has been a key factor in the Los Madrigal strategy. Diego and his brother have worked hard to reforest the farm and adopt environmentally sustainable practices while focussing on the quality of their harvests. Microlot farms with micromills in the Tarrazu area, typically produce fewer than 1000 bags annually. Micromilling allows Diego to retain control of the quality of the coffee from the bush to the bag.

The coffee is processed in the property’s micromill the day they are harvested. Sorted for ripeness, they are rinsed and cleaned before entering the float tank where only the best cherries sink to the bottom. The rest are floated off and returned to the crops as compost. The cherries with the beans intact are then sorted and spread across raised drying beds where they are sun dried, referred to as ‘natural’ processing. During the drying period, between 30 to 40 days, (depending on weather), the coffee ferments within the skin, intensifying the flavours and producing a signature ‘natural’ taste. Constant raking and turning is required before the final stages of hulling, polishing and bagging complete the process.

Costa Rica’s Tarrazu coffees are rapidly becoming the stuff of legend.  A disproportionate number of ‘Cup of Excellence’ winners hail from these valleys, testament to the consistent quality being produced from micromilling.

Natural processing is a time-honoured practice.  It was the way the very first coffees were processed, but Deigo is taking this ‘old world’ method to a whole new level. Aficionados will tell you the ‘natural’ flavours are like no other. There is a distinctive fruity sweetness present in every cup and our Los Madrigal Grand Cru combines a buttery, creamy texture with stone fruit brightness. It is a sensational coffee.

If there was such a thing as a ‘dessert coffee’ then this is it, an absolute treat. Think peaches and cream, the epitome of elegance.

We strongly suggest you will bring out the very best of what this coffee has to offer with a pour over or plunger. This is a coffee to savour, not to be rushed.