Costa Rica - Hacienda Sonora Black Honey

This coffee comes from 100 hectares of land teeming with biodiversity, complementing the 100% renewable energy and low-impact processing the farm uses to produce quality sustainable coffee.

Hacienda Sonora sits at the foot of the Poas Volcano. The farm operates on 100% renewable energy from a hydroelectric generator that transforms rushing rivers into energy. The energy fuels the wet and dry mills and provides free electricity for everyone living and working on the farm. Hacienda Sonora has shared their success generously, paying fair wages to all workers and bolstering the local community’s economy.

The farm and its mill cover approximately 100 hectares. Of those, 45 hectares are devoted to shaded coffee lands. Coffee plants are surrounded by exotic trees and other native vegetation. This biodiversity promotes soil health and maintains the nutrient-rich soil that helps grow dense, delicious cherry.  

The remaining land has a wild forest reserve growing on 35 hectares, and 20 hectares are reserved for sugarcane, which has been grown on Hacienda Sonora’s land for over 150 years.

This focus on sustainability and natural farming, combined with the unique honey processing they use, results in a distinctive, jam-flavoured filter coffee.

What is Black Honey?

If you haven't read our blog post about honey processing, check it out. The black honey process of this coffee works on the same idea, but the beauty of honey processing is that it's not an exact science yet. Depending on how much cherry is left on the bean during de-pulping, we get unique flavours. The 'black' part refers to how much mucilage is left on - black being one with the most mucilage, resulting in a more full-bodied coffee. Black honey also requires more humidity, and is dried under shade for even longer than other types of honey coffees.

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