Origin: Tarrazú, Costa Rica
Producer: Various Smallholders / Beneficio San Diego
Variety: Caturra, Catuai
Process: Honey
Tasting Notes: Chocolate, nectarine, guava, berry, honey, citrus
Body & Acidity: Heavy body, medium acidity
 
About the Farm(s)
Beneficio San Diego is one of Costa Rica’s most historic and innovative mills. Founded in 1888, it has evolved into the country’s most technologically advanced processing facility while maintaining a deep connection to the farming communities of Tarrazú and Tres Ríos. The mill works with hundreds of smallholders — most farming only about three hectares — providing agronomic guidance, sustainable practices, efficient processing, and a guaranteed share of the FOB price that ranks among the highest in the world.
Located at altitudes between 1,200 and 1,750 meters, the farms delivering to San Diego benefit from Tarrazú’s cool nights, rich volcanic soil, and long, steady ripening season. Producers delivering cherries to the mill are carefully selected each harvest based on field health, picking practices, and ripeness levels. The result is a collective effort: a community-driven supply chain built on quality, transparency, and continuous innovation.
 
About the Bean
Honey processing has become one of Costa Rica’s signature contributions to the coffee world, and Beneficio San Diego has long been at the forefront of refining this method. In this process, the coffee cherry is depulped but allowed to dry with its sticky, fruit-rich mucilage — the “honey” — still clinging to the parchment. By keeping these natural sugars intact, the mill produces coffees with sweetness and complexity similar to a natural, but with the clarity and structure more typical of a washed lot.
This particular honey lot showcases the precision and craft behind San Diego’s approach. Perfectly ripe cherries are hand-picked, depulped, and taken to African beds or patios where they dry slowly and evenly in the mountain sun. The result is a cup that’s layered and expressive: deep chocolate and honey sweetness, balanced by bright notes of nectarine, guava, and citrus.
Caturra and Catuai — the classic Costa Rican workhorse varieties — shine under this method, offering a dense body, syrupy sweetness, and a fruit complexity that reflects both the terroir of Tarrazú and the expertise of one of the country’s most respected mills. This coffee is a testament to Costa Rica’s leadership in quality, sustainability, and processing innovation.