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La Minita Coffee - It's In The Green Beans
By Jim Cameron, Fri Dec 9th
La Minita; Spanish for “The Little Gold Mine” says it all. LaMinita is arguably the best coffee in the world and is sipped bythe who’s who in the specialty coffee industry as well as bythose of us who have access to it in our businesses. Similar tothe wine industry, the best coffees are not always the mostexpensive. There are many factors involved in determining thefinal price of a coffee, unfortunately the quality of the
beanis only one of them. La Minita comes from the Tarrazu region of in CentralAmerica. This region has long been known for it’s quality coffeeand remains one of the finest growing regions in the world. TheLa Minita Estate is located at the pinnacle of this region on aspur between two rivers 5700 feet above sea level. The farmactually has several “Micro Climates” within the farm whicheffect the crop in different ways. The meticulous way in whichcoffee is grown, pruned, fertilized, shaded, and weeded all addto the final product. Long before “Organic” was popular, thisfarm was using machetes to cut back weeds rather than chemicals.Long before “fair trade” was popular this farm was treating it’semployees with respect, providing dental and medical resourcesright on the farm, paying above local scale, providing householditems at below cost prices, and encouraged a coffee workersassociation to promote fair, safe and equitable conditions. When the “new crop” is in, samples are taken from each of themicro growing regions on the farm and cupped to determine theyears mix. The pickers start at daybreak and finish pickingabout noon. The days harvest is measured from each picker thenat a central pick up point and again at the mill. Every LaMinita coffee bean arrives at the mill the same day it is pickedwhich is essential in producing the world’s best coffee. Themilling process is more meticulous than other mills and thebeans are watched at each stage of the preparation. When theyhave reached the point where most beans would be bagged up andexported, LaMinita enters its final stage. Every bean is lookedat by trained coffee sorters who go over and over the beansremoving any bean that may taint the final cup. (Article continued below)
Unlike the other “exotic” coffees of the world, La Minita is inthis category for one reason: QUALITY! I once spent a few dayswith a farmer from Jamaica who wanted to increase his crop. Whenhe was told how to make his coffee better, he replied: “I cansell every bean I can grow for $17.00 a pound; all I want to dois get more production”. Unfortunately this is often the case inthe exotics. Jamaican Blue Mountain, Hawaiian Kona and otherexotics demand high prices but way too often do not deliver thecup. LaMinita sells for far less than Jamaican and Kona and isalways a superb coffee at a reasonable price. Visit the LaMinita web site at: www.laminita.com . This article is writtenby Jim Cameron without the permission of La Minita and expressesonly the opinions of the Author on what he believes to be thebest value coffee in the world. To purchase this coffee green toroast at home, contact: www.u-roast-em.com . To purchase thiscoffee roasted, contact your local coffee roaster or coffeeshop. About the author:Jim Cameron is a semi retired Specialty Coffee Roaster who nowshares his love of coffee and his love of Costa Rica. Hiscompany in the USAsells these beans in raw "green coffee" formto the home roasting trade. He has a home and a small realestate business in the Southern Pacific side of onthe OSA Peninsula. | Sign In |
