Costa Rica, 2019

11 photos

The trip group standing together on the floor of a large coffee mill — Inside a mill founded in 2004 by coffee farmers from San Ramón.

A visitor walking beside long raked rows of coffee drying in the sun — Walking the drying patios.

The trip group posing in front of a painted sign at a hillside mill — At Beneficio La Montaña, makers of Café Don Lucas.

A man standing beside a raised drying bed of dark coffee cherry, with a Costa Rican flag and hills behind — Finca La Candelilla, run by the seven Sánchez brothers.

Close-up of red and green coffee cherries on a branch — Cherry ripening on the branch.

A long green processing line with hoppers inside a mill — The mill at Coope Tarrazú, the main cooperative in Los Santos.

The group in hard hats at a railing above the steaming crater of Poás Volcano — At the crater of Poás Volcano.

Visitors standing with a farming family on the green floor of a small mill — With Francisca and Oscar Chacón at their certified organic micro mill.

The trip group gathered on the floor of the Las Lajas mill — At Las Lajas, the Chacón family's own mill.

Yellow coffee cherries among dense green leaves — Yellow cherry on the tree.

Visitors leaning over a round table of cupping bowls — Cupping Las Lajas microlot coffees.

Notes de voyage

San Ramón

The company was founded in 2004 by coffee farmers from San Ramón and the surrounding West Valley, to process and market their coffee directly to world markets. It processes coffee from 3,800 producers across four growing regions, and its capital is 100% Costa Rican, held by 590 micro, small and medium producers.

Beneficio La Montaña

Although Costa Rica produces high-quality coffee, it is hard to find good, 100% pure coffee in the country itself. Beneficio La Montaña created its own roasted brand, Café Don Lucas, named for the great-grandfather who pioneered coffee in the family.

Finca La Candelilla

La Candelilla belongs to the Sánchez family, seven brothers who own the farm and the mill. The family has produced coffee on the same estate for more than 50 years, and La Candelilla pioneered Costa Rica's micro mill sector.

Coope Tarrazú

The main cooperative in the Los Santos area, in a region that depends entirely on coffee. Over the past 15 years its membership has grown by 50% and its production by 70%.

Francisca and Oscar Chacón

Their micro mill processes certified organic coffee, and they have worked through yellow, red and black honey processes as well as an excellent natural. While organic production has been disappearing from Costa Rica, they have stayed true to it.

Las Lajas

Las Lajas is the union of the Chacón family. Brothers and sisters deliver their coffee to their own mill in the foothills of Poás, so most of it can be sold as microlots, divided by lot, process and certification.