The Farm
Eighteen hectares on a north-facing slope, worked by the same family since 1962. Not much has changed, and that is mostly on purpose.
Three generations
Our grandfather bought the first four hectares in 1962 and planted Bourbon seedlings between the existing forest trees, because clearing them would have cost money he did not have. That accident of thrift is now the thing we are known for: the farm has never been a full-sun plantation, and the old Inga and cedar are still standing.
The farm passed to our mother in 1988, through the hardest years, when picking often stopped altogether. She replanted the upper plots, added Pacas, and built the first proper washing station. We took over in 2014 and have spent most of that time on two things: separating the harvest into smaller lots, and drying more slowly.
The land
Santa Rosa sits on volcanic soil — deep, dark and loose, which is forgiving in a dry year. We are high enough that the cherries ripen slowly and late, and close enough to the ridge that cool air moves through the trees every evening. The combination is what gives the coffee its acidity.
We keep the canopy at roughly forty percent shade. It costs us some yield. In exchange we spend less on fertiliser, lose less soil in the rains, and the farm is loud with birds from about four in the morning.
Plots
| Plot | Altitude | Variety | Process |
|---|---|---|---|
| El Bajo | 1,350–1,420 m | Bourbon | Washed |
| La Quebrada | 1,420–1,500 m | Bourbon, Pacas | Washed |
| El Cedro | 1,500–1,550 m | Pacas | Honey |
| La Cumbre | 1,550–1,600 m | Pacamara | Washed, natural |
How we pick and process
Harvest runs November to March, and we go through each plot four or five times rather than stripping the branch. Pickers are paid by the basket with a bonus for ripeness, which sounds like a small administrative detail and is actually the single biggest factor in how the coffee tastes.
Washed
Cherries are floated on arrival, depulped the same evening, and fermented in tile tanks for sixteen to twenty hours depending on the weather. Washed clean, then dried on raised beds for ten to fourteen days, turned by hand every two hours through the middle of the day.
Honey
Depulped without water, dried with the mucilage still on the bean. More work, more risk, and a heavier, sweeter cup when it goes well.
Natural
Whole cherries straight to the beds, twenty to twenty-five days, moved in thin layers. We only do this with Pacamara from La Cumbre, and only in a dry January.
People
Nine people work on the farm year-round. During harvest that rises to around seventy, most of them from the two villages below us, many of them returning season after season. We provide housing, three meals, and transport for the pickers who come from further away.
What we are working on
- Replacing the last of the 1970s Bourbon in El Bajo, a row at a time.
- A second drying shed, so the honey lots stop competing for bed space.
- Composting the pulp properly instead of dumping it at the bottom of the hill.
- A small nursery, to stop buying seedlings we could raise ourselves.
Visitors are welcome between December and February, when there is actually something to see. Write to us a couple of weeks ahead.