The classic combo of milk chocolate and honeycomb fills your cup with sweetness, a gentle hint of apricot rounding it out for a well balanced coffee which will keep you coming back for another sip.
This lot brings together Caturra and Catuai, two varieties that form the backbone of Costa Rican coffee production. Caturra is a natural mutation of Bourbon, first discovered in Brazil in the early 20th century and prized for its bright acidity and balanced sweetness. Catuai, a hybrid of Caturra and Mundo Novo developed by Brazilian researchers in the 1940s, contributes complementary notes of chocolate, caramel and nuttiness. The two are often grown side by side on Costa Rican farms, making mixed lots like this a natural expression of the country's coffee heritage.
The coffee has been processed using the white honey method, a technique Costa Rica pioneered following water shortages caused by a 2008 earthquake. In honey processing, the outer skin and fruit pulp are removed from the seed, but varying amounts of the sticky mucilage (nicknamed 'honey' for its texture) are left to dry on the bean. The colour in the name refers to how much of this mucilage remains: black honey retains the most, whilst white honey removes almost all of it. Sitting closest to a fully washed coffee on the spectrum, white honey produces a clean, balanced cup with subtle sweetness and delicate acidity. It requires precision and care to execute well, but uses significantly less water than traditional washing, making it ideally suited to the West Valley where water is a precious resource.
- Country: Costa Rica
- Region: Western Valley
- City: Lourdes de Naranjo
- Farm: El Oasis
- Producer: Carlos Arrieta
- Micro mill: Arbar
- Altitude: 1600 masl
- Varietal: Caturra & Catuai
- Process: White Honey
- FILTER RECIPE
- Suggested method: V60
Dose: 15.5g
Water: 250ml
Time: 3 mins
ESPRESSO RECIPE - Dose: 20g
Yield: 49g
Time: 26 secs
To find the method that suits your kit, check out our Brew Guides.
El Oasis is one of five farms operated by the Arrieta Barboza family from their ARBAR Micromill in Costa Rica's West Valley. The name ARBAR comes from the union of Carlos ARrieta and Maria BARboza, the husband and wife at the heart of this operation. Their children Yessica, Karen, Esteban and Jose Ignacio (known as Nacho) each play a role in the family business. The mill sits at 1,600 metres above sea level near the town of Lourdes de Naranjo, an area that has produced multiple Cup of Excellence winners and earned a reputation for some of Costa Rica's finest specialty coffee. El Oasis itself is a compact, productive farm that yields around 6,000 kg of fresh cherries each year, living up to its name as a peaceful, fertile corner of the family's operation.
Our relationship with the Arrietas stretches back over a decade. In 2013, Stephen Leighton of Hasbean cupped a sample at the offices of Exclusive Coffees that didn't even have a proper name, just 'Carlos Arrieta' on the label. The quality spoke for itself. Before then, Carlos had been sending his cherries to a local cooperative without ever meeting a buyer directly. In 2014, we helped fund ARBAR's first depulper, allowing the family to process coffee entirely on their own farm for the first time. When Hasbean joined Ozone in 2018, we continued the partnership, and we've bought the majority of what ARBAR produces ever since.
The family operates using mostly organic practices, though they aren't certified. Their approach is rooted in biodiversity: fruit trees provide shade among the coffee plants, enriching the soil and feeding the family, whilst goats, chickens, sheep and fish contribute to a self-sufficient ecosystem. Carlos and Maria are deeply embedded in their community, with close ties to neighbouring Cup of Excellence winning mills like Herbazu, Vista Al Valle and Sumava. Maria also roasts coffee at home for local customers, a skill she learned as a child roasting beans over a fire with her father. Perhaps the best measure of what this relationship has meant comes from their son Esteban, who has gone from working in the cattle industry to buying his own plot of farmland right next door to El Oasis. That shift, from leaving coffee to investing in its future, captures everything we hope these partnerships can achieve.