Esperanza
This coffee is creamy and juicy, with caramel notes that provide a rich, sweet base, while the lychee adds a light, floral fruitiness. Also have stone fruit notes bringing a luscious, juicy character, with hints of peaches that add complexity and vibrancy. Medium to full body, the mild acidity adds a subtle brightness without being overpowering. The long aftertaste lingers delicately, leaving a sweet and fruity finish.
Roast level: medium roast
This coffee is delicious in any brewing method.
468฿ – 2,920฿
Aquiares, one of Costa Rica’s largest and most historic coffee farms, sits high on the fertile slopes of Turrialba Volcano. Producing coffee continuously for over a century, the farm has developed an enduring model for growing high-quality Arabica coffee, protecting a stunning natural setting, and supporting a thriving local community of 1,800 people. Established by British farmers in 1890, Aquiares was one of the first estates to produce and export Costa Rican coffee. In 1971, the farm was purchased by its current owners – three families who have worked together with the farm ́s staff and community to implement a modern model of sustainable agriculture. Today, the Estate is the largest continuous coffee farm in Costa Rica, covering 924 hectares, 80% of which is planted under shade-grown Arabica.
Nestled between the Aquiares and Turrialba Rivers, “Aquiares” means “land between rivers” in Costa Rica’s Huetar indigenous language. The region where the farm is located used to be the centre for this pre-Columbian civilization, and occasionally old artefacts are found among the coffee trees. In fact, Guayabo National Monument, Costa Rica’s most important indigenous settlement, is just 5 km (3.1 miles) away. The land of Aquiares is blessed with a multitude of clean water sources and even provides drinking water to three communities down-stream. Coffee plots are interlaced with natural springs and countless streams and rivers, all of which are protected with forested buffer zones. The network of natural corridors throughout the farm connects the large, preserved forests in the two river valleys, providing a healthy environment for the local animals, birds, and plants.
This lot is 100% Caturra variety – the variety that composes the majority of the farm’s plantings. Aquiares has found the traditional variety well-suited to the farm’s high elevation (grown above 1,200 meters in most cases) and as consistently yielding a quality cup.
All Aquiares coffee is picked by hand to ensure consistent high quality. Microlots, such as this one, are picked by a special team of skilled harvesters who are paid well above the daily rate for their exceptional skill in picking the ripest cherries at each pass. Each tree is visited up to seven times during the harvest to ensure that only fully red ripe cherries are picked. The skilled hands of the pickers represent the farm’s most valuable asset.
As coffee cherries come from the field the same day that they are picked, they move into Aquiares own wet mill. The farm produces fully washed coffees, honey processed coffees and naturals. This Fully Washed lot has been floated for density (with all floaters being removed) and then pulped using the mill’s Penagos DCV 306 pulper to remove the fruit. Next, the coffee is pulped again using a “Penagos Delva” to remove the mucilage. Before being sent to the Gaurdiolas to dry, Pre-drying is completed in a “Centriflux” machine to remove any excess water. The coffee is then dried for around 32 hours at a low, constant temperature of approximately 45 ̊C – 55 ̊C in mechanical driers (Gaurdiolas). 2-hour breaks are given to the coffee to ensure consistent drying. Finally, the coffee is rested for a month in large silos to allow humidity and aromas to settle. Finally, the beans are returned to the dry mill where the parchment is removed, and the beans are sorted by size, weight, density, and colour before they are bagged for export.