The term Perla Negra or “Black Pearls” is inspired by the visual delight of seeing natural sun-dried coffee cherries drying on raised beds. For Oscar Chacon and Francisca Cubillo Salas, the idea of doing a Fully Natural Processed coffee from their award winning La Mirella farm should have come with some hesitation, fear, or even scorn. But quite the opposite response met our request to do a Natural Processed version of La Mirella: smiles, a twinkle in their eyes and the question, “Cuantos?”

What followed was the careful selection of fully ripe Caturra varietal coffee cherries measuring 20% or more BRIX or sugar content, and meticulous drying of these cherries with constant rotation and air circulation. Attempting a Natural or Dry Process is risky business, one is essentially letting the fruit dry or rot right on the coffee bean. If not done perfectly, the cup of coffee that results will become moldy, fermented, barn-like, redolent of scat—you get the idea. When done perfectly (which La Mirella Perla Negra has been) the cup is full of ripe fruit and fresh juicy berries.