Costa Rica Honey Process | Finca Los Chutas Red Catuai

Tastes like a handful of red berries. Still tastes like coffee.

This is a honey processed Red Catuai from Finca Los Chutas, a family farm in the mountains of Costa Rica. If you have ever been handed a "fruity" coffee that tasted thin and sour, this is the one that fixes that idea for you.

The cup leads with strawberry and raspberry, with a berry aroma and a soft cherry note underneath. The body is where it wins, though — juicy and silky, with enough sweetness to carry the fruit instead of leaving it sharp. Bright, but nothing about it is harsh.

Honey processing is why. Washed coffee strips all the fruit off the bean before drying. Natural coffee dries with the whole cherry on. Honey splits the difference: the skin comes off, the sticky sweet layer stays, and the coffee dries with it. You get the fruit and sweetness of a natural with the clean finish of a washed. It is more work and more risk for the producer, which is why you mostly see it from small mills that care.

Jesús Montero owns and operates Los Chutas. The cherry is processed a short distance away at Tío Juan Micromill, run by Juan Rafael Montero Gamboa — same family, and one of the reasons a lot this small stays traceable from tree to bag instead of disappearing into a regional blend.

I buy this through Pablo, who handles US sales for his family's coffee. Not a warehouse listing and not a mystery lot — one conversation with someone whose family name is on the farm.

Every bag is small-batch clean-roasted, packed fresh, and marked with a roast date. On a lot this delicate that is not a nice-to-have — the strawberry and silk are the first things to disappear in coffee that has been sitting.

This is the bag I hand to people who say they don't like fruity coffee.

Tastes Like

- Strawberry

- Raspberry

- Red fruit and cherry

- Juicy, silky body

- Sweet, clean finish

Best Brewing Styles

Great for pour-over, drip coffee makers, and French press.

Pour-over is where this coffee shows off — the clarity lets the strawberry and cherry separate out. Drip gets you most of the way there with none of the fuss. French press gives you a heavier, jammier cup if you want the body to lead. I would skip cold brew on this one; the fruit you paid for gets muted.

Why You'll Love It

You get a genuinely fruity coffee that still tastes sweet and smooth, not thin and sour.

- No sour, underdeveloped light roast.

- No stale beans with the fruit already gone.

- No mystery blend — one farm, one mill, one family.

- No special equipment required.

Just fresh roasted coffee beans online from a single Costa Rican farm, roasted for anyone who wants their morning cup to taste like actual fruit instead of a description on a bag.

Coffee Details

Origin: Costa Rica

Region:  Los Santos

Farm: Finca Los Chutas

Producer: Jesús Montero

Mill: Tío Juan Micromill

Altitude: 1800m

Process: Honey

Variety: Red Catuai

Roast Level: Light, medium, or medium-dark

Score: 86.50

Best For: Pour-Over, Drip, French Press

This Costa Rican honey is bright, juicy, and sweet all the way through — a fruity coffee for people who thought fruity coffee wasn't for them.