Before micromills, Costa Rican farmers had one option: deliver cherries to a large cooperative beneficio. No control over processing. No say in quality. Don Tacho — Luis Anastasio Castro — built one of Costa Rica's first micromills, a facility where a single family controls the journey from cherry to export. Named after his great-great-grandparents Juana and Chute, Juanachute became the model for what people now call the "Micromill Revolution."

Inspired by winemaking, Don Tacho pioneered anaerobic fermentation in Costa Rica — sealing coffee in airtight barrels where different bacteria create explosive fruit complexity. He oversees every step from selecting varietals to sealing jute bags for export. Most farms touch two or three of these steps. Don Tacho controls all of them. His son Luis Jr. competes in barista championships, carrying the family legacy into a new generation.

COFFEE DETAILS

• Region: Los Santos, Tarrazú
• Altitude: 1,700–1,900 masl
• Varieties: Catuaí, Caturra, Villa Sarchi, Geisha, SL-28
• Process: Honey (Nacientes lot)
• Farm Size: Multiple plots across Los Santos
• Grade: SHB (Strictly Hard Bean)
• Q-Score: 86
• Harvest: 2025 Crop

Los Volcanes sits on the slopes of Poás Volcano in San Pedro de Poás, where Miguel Castro Murillo's family has been growing coffee for three generations. The farm spans just a few hectares — small enough that Miguel knows every tree, every microclimate, every patch of volcanic soil. When Jeannette, an agricultural expert, joined the operation, she brought fresh eyes to generations-old traditions. Together they went fully organic, focused on shade-grown methods, and prioritized quality over quantity. 

Their Geisha Isidoro lot represents the pinnacle of what volcanic terroir can produce. Certified by ICAFE with a Q-score of 88, this coffee delivers an extraordinary floral and citrus profile — silky sweet honey aromatics, jasmine, vanilla, and juicy lemon with brilliant citric acidity and notes of peach and brown sugar. It is specialty coffee at its finest.

COFFEE DETAILS

• Region: Central Valley, Alajuela
• Altitude: 1,400+ masl
• Variety: Geisha Isidoro
• Process: Washed
• Farm Size: < 5 hectares Body
• Certifications: Organic, Shade-Grown
• Q-Score: 88 (ICAFE Certified)
• Harvest: 2025 Crop Balance
• Humidity: 10.5%

Los Volcanes sits on the slopes of Poás Volcano in San Pedro de Poás, where Miguel Castro Murillo's family has been growing coffee for three generations. The farm spans just a few hectares — small enough that Miguel knows every tree, every microclimate, every patch of volcanic soil. When Jeannette, an agricultural expert, joined the operation, she brought fresh eyes to generations-old traditions. Together they went fully organic, focused on shade-grown methods, and prioritized quality over quantity.

Their Villa Sarchi lot showcases the versatility of Los Volcanes' volcanic terroir. Certified by ICAFE with a Q-score of 86, this coffee delivers a beautifully balanced cup — sweet caramel and vanilla aromatics, brown sugar and panela sweetness, creamy body with citric acidity, and notes of grapefruit, ripe orange, and sweet lemon. Clean and exceptionally well-roasted.

COFFEE DETAILS

• Region: Central Valley, Alajuela
• Altitude: 1,400+ masl
• Variety: Villa Sarchi
• Process: Honey
• Farm Size: < 5 hectares
• Certifications: Organic, Shade-Grown
• Q-Score: 86 (ICAFE Certified)
• Harvest: 2025 Crop
• Humidity: 12.4%

The Blue Zone coffee. There are only five places on Earth where people routinely live past 100. The Nicoya Peninsula in Costa Rica is one of them. Matambú is an indigenous Chorotega territory in the mountains of Hojancha — the only indigenous territory in the world within a Blue Zone, and the only Blue Zone that grows specialty coffee.

In 1962, twenty-three farmers founded Coopepilangosta, tired of being at the mercy of large buyers. Six decades later, the cooperative supports 192 families across 246 hectares. The Chorotega people rise before dawn, eat fortified maize and beans, work the land by hand, and live in multi-generational households where elders are treasured. They drink coffee from trees they tend themselves, using ancestral techniques. The volcanic soil here is rich in calcium — which may explain the region's remarkable longevity.

COFFEE DETAILS

• Region: Nicoya Peninsula, Guanacaste
• Altitude: 600–1,000 masl
• Varieties: CR95
• Process: Fermented
• Farm Size: 246 ha (192 families)
• Certifications: NAMA Café, Cooperative
• Q-Score: 86.75
• Harvest: 2025/2026 Crop