LICHO

Licho - Costa Rica washed ET-47

Suitable for: Espresso & Filter Brewing
Best As: Espresso (Black), & Filter (Black)

Flavour Description: Grapefruit, Mandarin, Honey, Chamomile

Producer: Dylan Aguilera
Farm: Finca Licho
Region: Naranjos
Variety: ET-47
Process: Washed

Q-Score: 87.25
Sourced via: Dylan Aguilera (Direct)

Recommended Rest: For the best tasting brew out of this specialty coffee from Costa Rica, we’d suggest resting this for 21–49 days off roast – we wrote a coffee blog on this here.

About This Coffee

Some of you may remember that we featured coffees from Dylan and his brothers last year. We were so impressed by the transparency, care, attention and endless detail that he was willing to share with us that this year, we decided to offer Dylan a contract to provide us a lot more coffee, booking back in February while our Yellow Honey Milenio was still on the offer list – to get ahead of the current harvest and secure exceptional coffees.

This year, we have worked directly with Dylan to purchase from his farm Finca Matilde, in addition to farms operated by his brothers at Finca Toño, Finca Licho and El Roble. Finca Toño was acquired by the Aguilera family over a decade ago.

They planted cypress trees to create natural fences and windbreaks, facilitating the establishment of the first coffee lots. It took approximately five to six years to develop these initial lots, which ultimately became among the best farms for the Aguilera family, propelling them into the Cup of Excellence with their Geisha, San Roque and ET-47 varieties.

Today, the farm is cultivated with six different coffee varieties, one of the most recent being the ET-47.

ET-47 is an exceptionally rare variety, mostly found in Costa Rica and Guatemala, although the parentage of the variety delineates from Ethiopian landraces.

This lot is processed as a washed coffee and perfectly expresses the ET-47 variety in all its glory, shining a light on the exemplary Costa Rican terroir, in addition to Dylan’s exceptional cultivation prowess. Dylan also won the 2023 Cup Tasters Championship in Costa Rica – as any UK competitor will know, this is one of the hardest disciplines to master.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the ET-47 coffee variety?

ET-47 is an exceptionally rare coffee variety. Although now mostly found in Costa Rica and Guatemala, it traces its lineage back to Ethiopian landraces. It is cherished for its complexity, clarity and distinctive flavour expression.

What does “washed process” mean?

A washed process removes the coffee fruit before drying, which results in a incredibly clean and transparent cup. With ET-47, this washed method highlights bright citrus, florality and the elegant Costa Rican terroir.

How should I brew this coffee?

This coffee makes a stunning espresso or filter. For filter, we recommend brewing using digital scales for consistency — we sell Felicita Parallel brewing scales, and you can follow our step-by-step pourover brew guide here.

Do you sell other Costa Rican coffees?

Yes — we work directly with Dylan and the Aguilera family. If you enjoy ET-47, you might also love:

• El Roble — a Yellow Honey processed coffee with tangerine, white grape and demerara sweetness
• Matilde — a VIC-04 yeast inoculated anaerobic with orange wine and papaya
• Dylan Aguilera — our annual direct-trade release

Where can I explore similar coffees?

Browse our full range of single-origin coffees here. If you enjoy rare washed Costa Ricans, take a look at Dylan Aguilera or our newest washed Ethiopian offerings.

Brew & Purchase Options

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