The Asoproaaa association mill was one of the highlights of our trip back in February this year. The mill purchases cherry from surrounding association member farms, processes through it's own wet-mill to remove the skin, then dried on raised beds in an incredibly beautiful setting in Acosta in the Tarrazu region. They specialise in Black Honey processing but also have some lots they process as naturals and a few as Red Honeys.

As well as coffee production they provide financing and access to market for producers of citrus, vegetables and cattle. Currently they have 1200 members of which 200 are coffee producers. It's a relatively small mill which can handle coffee deliveries from 10 farms per day, which equates to 1500 -2000 bags per year, split almost equally between naturals and black honeys.

For the black honey lots, the cherries are initially fermented anaerobically in bags for 48hrs, then depulped in the wet-mill and then back in the bags for another 24hrs before going to the african raised beds for 8-10 days. Some of the coffees are combined and others kept as microlots based on variety and quality. Selection of the farms for the daily lots and micro-lots is carefully done based on experience of the cherry quality and quantities.

Asoproaaa opened up their own cafe in the local town Acosta a couple of years ago to showcase their products to the locals and tourists. They named it 'Black Honey' and you've guessed it, it's the clear theme of the cafe. We were served by Javier who was also the roaster and QC manager and of course had just come 4th in the Costa Rica barista championships. Javier told me that he didn't use their own coffee for the champs but a special coffee that his friend Pacho from La Chumeca (yes, we have their coffee as well) had selected for him. Turns out everyone knows everyone in Costa Rican coffee. The Black Honey gelato was a nice way to finish our visit.