Cerro San Luis Micromill is a family business run by two siblings Alexander and
Magali Delgado and their spouses, who own and operate both farms and a small
mill in Grecia, in the West Valley. In the interest of improving their quality and
remaining competitive, they have focused on growing different varieties, and about
4 years ago they replaced their older stock with 10 or more different types of coffee,
including Caturra, Red and Orange Bourbon, SL-28, Catuai, Villa Sarchi, and
Maragogype. The family's farms are adjacent to one another, but the plots are given
separate names for lot separation purposes, and the mill is located at the family
home, just a few miles away.After harvesting, the cherry is brought right to the
family home, where they are able to do a variety of different processes, from
washed and honeys to natural. As is common at mills in Costa Rica, at Cerro San
Luis the type of honey is decided by how much mucilage is left on the coffee after
depulping. 

The process

Freshly harvested and sorted cherries are delivered to the mill and promptly depulped. After this, the coffee is placed directly onto raised beds for a few days and then transferred to a covered patio where it is turned regularly until the drying process is complete.

Micromill

Microlots from Costa Rica are typically sourced from producers who have invested not only in growing their farms, but also in building and operating their own processing facilities, typically called "micromills." Micromills typically yield fewer than 1,000 bags annually, and are often independently owned by a family or small group of producers. Microlots in Costa Rica are separated out based on differentiated characterisations such as processing, variety, or some other aspect. Microlots carry the highest quality as well as the highest level of traceability.