Origin Story
This lot comes to us from the Robelo family in Turrialba, Costa Rica. Over 900 hectares of the land is in production, making Aquiares one of the largest estates in Costa Rica. For over a century, the farm has developed an enduring model for growing high-quality coffee, protecting the stunning natural setting, and supporting a thriving local community of 1,800 people. Coffee plots here are protected by large preserved forests, providing a healthy environment for the local animals, birds, and plants
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 community to implement a model of sustainable agriculture.
Today, the farm manages the entire coffee production chain, from seedling production to plant cultivation, harvesting and milling. This ensures that they are able to meet the highest standards of quality assurance and guarantee a traceable product.
Processing
This lot is 100% ‘Esperanza’ variety – a hybrid of Caturra and the Ethiopia 531 variety, developed by various Central American coffee research institutes. Esperanza marries cup quality with high resistance to disease.
This Red honey lot was produced by leaving approximately 80-90% of the mucilage attached after pulping. This is done by first washing and floating the cherries to remove the low-density beans, before de-pulping.
After this, the coffee is delivered to the mill’s covered greenhouses to pre-dry on concrete patios for two days before being moved to the mill’s raised beds to dry for an additional 10 days. Here, temperature control is very important to allow for even drying, therefore the raised beds are maintained between 28.C and 45.C. Finally, the almost dried honey’d coffee is placed in a mechanical dryer or ‘Guardiola’, for one day to complete the process.
Environmental Stewardship feat. podcast with Diego Robelo of Aquiares Estate.
In order to thrive, high quality coffee requires specific growing conditions. However, these conditions are facing increased risks due to changing weather patterns resulting from climate change. Aquiares is mitigating the effects of climate change by adapting their practices through strategies that aim to reduce water pollution, soil erosion, waste and water usage.
In recent years, Aquiares has made strides in achieving carbon neutrality and measures its greenhouse gas emissions to calculate its carbon emissions against its offsets. Join Diego Robelo from Aquiares, as he discusses their approach towards sustainability at origin in this episode of the 5THWAVE Podcast (Timestamp: 10:01 - 19:25).
