C66: 

Farm/Producer: La Isla, Jiménez and Padilla family

Region: Costa Rica, Naranjo, Lourdes

Process: Honey

Altitude: 1560 masl

Variety: Catigua MG2

Cup Profile: Mebos, Dates, Cereal Milk

At Cedar, we’re always looking for coffees that tell a clear story of place, variety and processing and this lot from Costa Rica’s La Isla farm does exactly that. Costa Rica is renowned for its clean, expressive Villa Sarchi coffees and its mastery of honey processing, and La Isla is a young but fast-rising farm that’s already earning serious recognition. Founded by the Jiménez & Padilla family, the farm sits in Naranjo at 1,560 masl, and their commitment to precise, quality-focused production has already placed them 6th in the 2024 Cup of Excellence Costa Rica.

This time we are exploring the Catiguá MG2 varietal, this is a cross between Catuai and Timor Hybrid, bred for cup quality and rust resistance. Still relatively new to Costa Rica, it’s an exciting variety that brings both resilience and vibrant, fruit-forward character to the cup.

For this lot, cherries were handpicked at peak ripeness, de-pulped, and dried slowly with their sticky mucilage intact a meticulous honey process that lifts sweetness, enhances texture, and keeps the profile incredibly clean.

On filter, the cup is layered with stonefruit notes leaning into dried fruit, think mebos delivering a rich, concentrated sweetness. As espresso, it presents a syrupy profile with dominant notes of dates, carrying through that same deep dried fruit character. On milk, the profile softens, revealing a smooth, lingering sweetness reminiscent of the milk left after a bowl of cereal.