Jungle Berry

I've been tasting and loving Allan's white and red honeys for years. But over the past three years I finally got my hands on his SL-28, and I fell for it hard. The first sip is immediately juicy, like green grape, and then it opens up into white chocolate macadamia nut, plum, gooseberry, blackberry and nutmeg. It isn't a fruit bomb. It's a really great balance of juicy fruit and warm spice, and if you want to know more about Allan, read on!

Allan Oviedo is a second-generation coffee producer. About 20 years ago he inherited his land from his father, Joel, but only half of it. Joel's farm was split in two, and the other half went to Allan's uncle.

For years Allan sold his cherries to the regional mill, which paid the market price no matter how good the coffee was. He kept improving the farm anyway, and in 2014 all that work turned into his own micromill. He named it Don Joel, after his dad.

It paid off. Allan qualified for the Costa Rica Cup of Excellence in 2018, and then again every single year since 2021. That's what a methodical, detail-obsessed producer looks like when the quality finally gets rewarded.

This lot is his SL-28. It's a variety that made its name in Kenya and has taken really well to Costa Rica, and it's a refreshing change from the Caturra and Catuaí that most of the country grows.

Honeys are a big part of what Allan does. In a honey process, some of the mucilage stays on the bean after de-pulping and through drying. I am over simplifying here, but essentially the more that's left on, the darker the honey: white, yellow, red, then black. Done right, a honey picks up a lot of sweetness and flavour and still tastes clean. That's much easier said than done, and it's where raised beds earn their keep: air moves around the coffee on every side, so it dries evenly and results in a clean honey.

And the best part of Allan's story? With everything he's earned, he bought the other half of his father's land back from his uncle. Joel's farm is whole again, and Allan has been planting it with Villa Sarchi, Typica and more SL-28.