Hard Beans - Costa Rica Los Duran Obata Black Honey Filter 250 g

Whole-bean specialty coffee from Costa Rica, roasted by Hard Beans from Poland. Light roast, perfect for filter coffee machines, drippers, Chemex, AeroPress, French Press, and other pour-over brewing methods. In the cup, you can expect the notes of cherry, red grapes, cocoa and tangerine.

Country of origin: Costa Rica

Region: West Valley

Farm: Los Durán Micromill

Processing: Black Honey

Varietal: Obata

Altitude: 1600 – 1900 m a.s.l.

ABOUT THE FARM

Los Durán is a family micromill run by Eduardo Durán and his three sons: Barney, Kendall, and Arnold. The farm is located in Sarchí, in Costa Rica's West Valley, a region with a long tradition of coffee production and a high number of small, family-owned farms.Each family member is responsible for a different part of the business. Barney manages daily production and processing, while Kendall and Arnold also apply their engineering backgrounds to develop the family enterprise.The Duráns work on several small plots where they cultivate traditional varieties such as Catuaí and Caturra, alongside SL28 and more modern hybrids.A key milestone for the farm was launching their own micromill. Eduardo and Kendall built it directly next to the family home to handle the processing and drying of harvested coffee on their own. The decision regarding technology was also crucial. Instead of a mechanical demucilager, they used a traditional depulper. It allows a larger amount of mucilage to remain on the parchment, which is particularly important for honey-type processing.They also have raised beds and a greenhouse at their disposal. As a result, the entire process—from freshly harvested cherry to dried parchment—remains in the hands of a single family.

ABOUT THE VARIETAL

Obata belongs to a group of varieties developed to combine good productivity, disease resistance, and quality potential.At Los Durán, however, it is not treated merely as a commercial variety. The family works with it as a standalone microlot and guides it through an extensive Black Honey process. Because of this, the coffee's character stems not only from genetics and growing conditions, but also from a series of decisions made post-harvest.

ABOUT THE PROCESSING

Black Honey by Los Durán is a multi-stage process.After harvesting, the ripe cherries remain whole for about 12 hours. Only after this time are they depulped. The skin of the fruit is removed, but the mucilage remains on the parchment. Next, the coffee rests for another ~24 hours. After this stage, it moves to raised beds, where it stays covered for the first 24 hours.Further drying lasts about 21 days. Throughout this period, the full layer of mucilage remains on the parchment. This is what sets this lot apart from simpler honey processing variants. The producer consciously preserves a larger amount of fruit material during drying and carries out moisture reduction gradually on raised beds.In practice, this means a significantly higher number of decisions between harvesting and the end of drying: the length of whole-fruit resting, the timing of depulping, the duration of the next resting stage, the amount of remaining mucilage, and the course of three weeks of drying. At Los Durán, all these stages are carried out in a single micromill. It is precisely this level of control over processing that makes this coffee so interesting.

RECIPE

Proportions: 60 g of coffee per 1 liter of water

Water temperature: 93°

Grind size: medium

Brewing time: 3:30 minutes

Method: Pour water over the coffee in 5 equal parts (e.g., 5x 60 g) at 30-second intervals.

The water should filter through the coffee completely between pours.

If the water flows too slowly or too quickly, adjust the grind size to coarser/finer.

Remember to use soft, filtered water!

Store in a dry and cool place.