Evocare--coffee with Eulogio

In the Monte Verde, Santa Elena area, we stayed at a wonderful family lodge, Vista Verde, owned by Eulogio and Sheli Jimenez. They are a wonderful outgoing and helpful couple, who prepared excellent breakfasts and dinners for us, as well as helped us find the best places to see in the area.

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They own their own coffee acreage, and morning coffee was a genuine treat, the best coffee I have ever enjoyed. Their brand name is "Evocare", and indeed the smell and flavor of their coffee was evocative and memorable.  Even Michael and Sara, who are not coffee drinkers, brought back packages of coffee beans for themselves and their friends.

Eulogio gave us a tour of his coffee farm.  The coffee "cherries" come to fruit in December, after three or four years of plant growth. Picking the cherries is labor intensive, and many school children earn money harvesting them during their Christmas vacation. Eulogio explained the importance of coffee picking, because ripe beans provide the highest quality coffee. Green beans produce a bitter taste, whereas the red beans have a higher aromatic oil and lower acid content. Thus, the ripe beans produce a fragrant, smooth and mellow coffee.   

The fruit covering the beans is removed before they are dried. Eulogio dries his coffee beans in the sun to reduce the water content to 10%.  It is first dried on the ground and then placed on raised tables where it is turned by hand to allow the air to circulate around the beans to promote a more even drying process.

Finally Eulogio roasts the coffee. Roasting brings out the flavor and aroma locked in the green beans. Numerous chemical changes occur in the beans as they are roasted.  Various temperatures and various times create the range from light through medium to dark.

Eulogio is a master of this art. His generous, genuine spirit did indeed create evocative memories for us.  Here is the hperlink to his lodging:  http://www.tripadvisor.com/Hotel_Review-g951347-d301335-Reviews-Vista_Verde_Lodge-Monteverde_Province_of_Puntarenas.html 

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