Costa Rica — Luis & Oscar Monge, La Lia Ethiopia 47 (Red Honey)

Tastes Like — 🍒 Cranberries  • 🍂 Lingonberries  • 🍋 Citrus

DETAILS

• Producer: Luis and Oscar Monge
• Farm: Piesan – La Lia
• Region: Santa Rosa de Leon Cortez, Tarrazu, Costa Rica
• Varietal: Ethiopia 47
• Process: Red Honey
• Altitude: 1,900–2,000 MASL

INTRO

From the celebrated Monge brothers at La Lia comes this extraordinary Red Honey Ethiopia 47 — a cultivar originally developed in Costa Rica from Ethiopian landrace genetics and renowned for its unusual depth of flavour. Processed as a red honey, it retains considerable mucilage during drying, producing a cup of intense cranberry and fig character, warm cinnamon spice and a citrus brightness that lifts the whole profile.

This is a coffee produced in very limited volume: just two 69-kilo bags. An exceptional find from one of Tarrazu's most dedicated and skilled producer families.

THE PRODUCER

La Lia is a farm and micro mill in the heart of Tarrazu, owned by brothers Luis and Oscar Monge. The farm has been in the family for nearly 70 years, but it was in 2008 that the brothers took over production and established their own micro mill — named in honour of their mother, Lia.

The farm comprises 7 plots of land reaching up to 2,100 metres above sea level at their highest. At altitude, cherries ripen very slowly, concentrating sugars for exceptional cup quality. Red Catuai dominates the higher plots, with Caturra grown slightly lower, supplemented by a growing range of varieties including Bourbon, Pacamara, Tipica, Yellow Tipica, SL28, Kenia and Geisha.

Koppi has worked with Oscar and Luis since 2012. Their coffees are a highlight of the year — visiting Luis, Oscar and Lia each season has made the relationship feel like family. The same 60 pickers return year after year, trained to select only perfectly ripe cherries and sort carefully after picking. The result is consistently outstanding coffee.

THE PROCESS

The Red Honey process at La Lia involves:

• 🍒 Hand-picking & sorting — Only fully ripe cherries, selected by the farm's experienced picking team
• 🔧 Depulping — Cherries are depulped, leaving a substantial layer of mucilage on the parchment
• ☀️ Raised-bed drying with mucilage — The coffee dries with significant mucilage intact, taking on a deep red colouration and concentrating sweetness and body
• 📅 Slow drying — Extended drying at high altitude, allowing complex fermentation-driven flavours to develop under careful monitoring

The red honey designation reflects the depth of mucilage retained: more than yellow honey, less than black honey — a deliberate choice to maximise sweetness, body and aromatic complexity whilst retaining approachable clarity.

THE CUP

A richly flavoured, sweetly intense cup with characteristic red fruit depth and warming spice. Cranberry and figs lead, supported by lingonberries and a bright citrus undercurrent, with the full body and long finish typical of well-executed red honey processing. This is a compelling and distinctive coffee from one of Costa Rica's finest farms.

Flavour Notes

• 🍒 Cranberries
  
• 🍂 Lingonberries
• 🍋 Citrus