Before 2001, in Costa Rica, all growers delivered their cherries to large cooperatives. Until the construction of Cordillera del Fuego, the first independent mill built in Costa Rica, in the West Valley, and managed by Luis Campos.
Luis Campos is a pioneer of new processes, including the anaerobic process for this coffee. Luis Campos accompanies the growers who bring their coffee to Cordillera del Fuego. Among them is Fernando Cordero, who is responsible for this coffee.
To achieve this anaerobic fermentation, Cordillera del Fuego employees carry out the following process: after arrival, the coffee is pulped and placed in a stainless steel vat. One part retains its mucilage. The mucilage from the other part of the coffee is recovered to form a gel which covers the coffee beans in the vat.
The producer was the first to implement anaerobic fermentations for coffee and holds a patent for a vat that controls pressure, temperature, and the fermentation of coffee cherries. They add mosto (the leachate resulting from fermentation) from other coffees to enhance the complexity of the profile. The depulped coffee is then macerated with two different types of mosto and subjected to high pressure, allowing aromatic molecules to penetrate the beans. As the beans are depulped and in their parchment state, they absorb the molecules more effectively.
The vat is then hermetically sealed. Temperature and pH are controlled for the duration of fermentation, between 18 and 23 hours, before any alcohol is produced. The coffee is then dried and left to dry in the sun.
