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Costa Rica – Aperture Coffee Roasters

Andrew Pautler

Coffee Details

  • Coffee Name
    Costa Rica - Single Origin
  • Roaster
    Aperture Coffee Roasters
  • Roaster Location
    Woodstock, VA
  • Estimated Price
    $14.00 / 10 oz
  • Flavor Notes
    Raspberry, Vanilla, Chocolate
  • Process
    Natural
  • Varieties
    Caturra, Catuai
  • Country
    Costa Rica
  • Region
    Sabanilla de Alajuela, Central Valley
  • Elevation
    1300–1600 MASL
  • Producer
    Don Sabino micromill (Esteven and Hiver Vargas)
  • Roast
    Light
  • Other Notes
    Cupping, V60, Chemex, Espresso

Coffee Scoring

9.0
Aroma
7 / 10
Body
9 / 10
Flavor
9 / 10
Acidity/Brightness
10 / 10
Balance
9 / 10
Sweetness
9 / 10
Cleanliness
10 / 10
Aftertaste
9 / 10
Complexity
10 / 10
Flexibility
8 / 10
Pros
  • Nice layers of complexity in the cup
  • Very clean cup of coffee

Cons
  • Aromatics not as pronounced as I expect from a naturally processed coffee

Disclosure: Pull & Pour received coffee samples for this post, however, as always, all opinions are 100% my own.

As followers of my reviews know, I love a good natural coffee. I’ve tried a lot of dry-processed coffees through the years, but very few from Costa Rica. The farm where this coffee is produced exclusively creates dry-processed coffees—and they definitely have the process figured out (read more about the Don Sabino micromill on Aperture’s site here).

Unlike some of its natural counterparts from Africa, this dry-processed coffee wasn’t extremely fruit forward. It had the wonderful acidity that comes at you right away, but some of the flavor profile is hidden a bit deeper within the cup. I had to take a few sips to find the raspberry in the flavor. I don’t think that detracts from this coffee though, but rather adds to the complexity. It’s a more nuanced cup, but one that is extremely rewarding to parse through. I’m glad I have a full bag to work through because I’ve enjoyed it more every time I’ve had it. The only area I could really detract from it was the fragrance & aroma that were not as pronounced as I would like.

The Bottom Line

If you enjoy brighter, fruity coffees, I think this is a great one to try. It’s different from the more common African natural options, which makes it a great option if you’re trying to expand your perspective and try different styles of coffee. If you want to order it though, you better go fast because each batch is extremely limited (I got bag 73 of 100 for my review).

Equipment Used

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