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Costa Rica Reserve ‘Carlos Montero’ White Honey Process – Old Soul Co.

Andrew Pautler

Coffee Details

  • Coffee Name
    Costa Rica Reserve "Carlos Montero" White Honey Process
  • Roaster
    Old Soul Co.
  • Roaster Location
    Sacramento, California
  • Estimated Price
    $19 / 12 oz
  • Flavor Notes
    Caramel, peach, graham cracker
  • Process
    White honey
  • Varieties
    Catuai
  • Country
    Costa Rica
  • Region
    Tarrazu
  • Elevation
    1900m
  • Roast
    Medium
  • Review Brew Method
    v60, Kalita Wave
  • Roast Date
    February 18, 2020
  • Review Date
    February 22, 2020

Coffee Scoring

8.9
Aroma
8 / 10
Body
8.5 / 10
Flavor
9 / 10
Acidity/Brightness
9 / 10
Balance
9 / 10
Sweetness
9.5 / 10
Cleanliness
9 / 10
Aftertaste
9 / 10
Complexity
8.5 / 10
Flexibility
9 / 10
Pros
  • Creamy sweetness

Cons
  • Aroma lacking, too muted

This coffee review was sponsored by Crema.co. Creama.co is the Spotify of coffee. They offer hundreds of coffees from roasters across the country that you can buy with a one-time order or as a subscription. Get $10 off your first bag now.

Costa Rican coffees when grown, processed and roasted well are some of my favorite from Central America. Their clean, sweet profile can lead to some amazing coffees. This Costa Rican from Old Soul Co. caught my attention and was a quick add to my Crema.co playlist because it also is a honey-processed coffee, which can lead to some additional fruity notes and brightness. “Carlos Montero” did a nice job of meeting most of these expectations.

The coffee begins with a sweet, nutty fragrance that combined together to create a graham cracker aroma. The graham cracker undertones carried through the flavor, which included apricots and citrus notes as well. These unique flavor notes layered on top of each other nicely, but didn’t evolve much throughout each sip. There was a really nice, bright acidity at the front and a creamy, caramel sweetness throughout. The coffee had a medium smooth body and a resonant finish with a wonderful lingering brightness.

The Bottom Line

Costa Rica Reserve “Carlos Montero” White Honey Process was a delicious coffee that fit within the expectations I had for a honey-processed coffee almost perfectly. I was hoping for a bit more evolution and complexity in the cup, but overall was very impressed with this coffee.

This coffee review was sponsored by Crema.co. Creama.co is the Spotify of coffee. They offer hundreds of coffees from roasters across the country that you can buy with a one-time order or as a subscription. Get $10 off your first bag now.

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