Spotlight on...Costa Rica La Montaña

This week, we're shining a spotlight on Costa Rica La Montaña, a microlot coffee from Tarrazu, our favorite region in one of our favorite coffee origins.

Costa Rican coffees are harvested early in the year, January through March, and become available to us late spring through the summer. By the end of last year, we were running perilously low on our favorite Costa Rican coffees and reached out to importers to see if they still had any late harvest Costa Ricans available.

Boy, did we luck out with this single estate, microlot coffee from Tarrazu! It's a lovely coffee, smooth and silky, with toffee sweetness brightened by lemon and floral notes and balanced by a rich peanut finish. By the end of our first sip, we were in love with this coffee.

We also like what we learned about the folks who grow this coffee. La Montaña is a family business started forty years ago by Jorge Gutierrez and now run by his two daughters, Daniela and Tatiana Gutierrez. The family is as passionate about coffee as we are. Unlike many coffee growers, they drink and enjoy their own product, and Daniela and Tatiana have expanded the business, learning barista and roasting skills in order to both enjoy the coffee more and to more fully commercialize it.

As a family owned and run business ourselves, we were delighted to o help support another coffee-loving family, We're even happier to be able to share their coffee with you, our customers.

We like Costa Rica La Montaña roasted to a light, City roast level, because it heightens the lemon topnotes for a great breakfast coffee. Since this coffee is grown on a mountain, it takes darker roasts equally well. Try it at a Full City for more richness, or darker still, Vienna or Northern Italian for an even sweeter cup.

Are you like us and love the coffees of Costa Rica? Have you tried Costa Rica La Montaña? How do you think it compares to other coffees from Tarrazu? If you have an opinion, please join the conversation and share it on the Facebook thread or in a comment on this blog. Or, if you'd like to share your thoughts with the wider world, leave us a coffee review on Google or on your favorite review site. Not only do we value your opinions, but reviews help more people find us. Help us connect coffee lovers to fresh, quality coffee!

Thanks!

~ Carrie, Paul and all of us at Coffee by the Roast

For more information on Costa Rica La Montaña, click here