Aquiares | Thermic "Churro" Natual | Costa Rica

This is our 3rd year running this lot. It's the first thing we ever purchased from Aquiares, and boy are we glad we started that relationship! We know bring in 10s of tonnes from Diego at Aquiares. This one though, is the cream of the crop!

The "Churro" process is a fun one. After sorting, the cherries get wrapped up in thick, heat-trapping plastic, rolled into long cylinders, and sealed tight to keep oxygen out—kind of like making giant churros. But fun fact: the workers actually nicknamed this process "churros" because the rolling process reminded them of joints, which they locally call churros! These wrapped-up cherries are then placed in the mill’s greenhouse, where the sun heats them up, kickstarting fermentation for at least three days. Once that’s done, they’re spread out to dry under the sun for about 15 days. After drying, the cherries are packed into bags and left to rest for three months before they’re finally milled and prepped for export.

"We've been working to find the right balance—justifying the value of our coffee both in terms of quality and price. And I think that’s been a fair and open discussion with Harley.

You’ve been flexible in exploring new coffees while staying consistent with the ones you love. I believe the first coffee you got from us was the Thermic, and you really enjoyed it. We continued pursuing that, but also expanded into other coffees.

I think you’ll be pleased with this year’s results—it’s even better than before"
- Diego Robelo