About This Coffee
Owner Joiner Alvarado was born in Buena Vista Rivas in Perez Zeledón. The town is located on the slopes of the Paraguas hill. Those same slopes make the region ideal for coffee production and Joiner has been involved in coffee since he was young. His entire family are coffee producers and Joiner is equally as dedicated to producing excellent coffee.
When he first started farming coffee on his own farm, Joiner sold his cherry to other micromills. However, in 2018, Joiner, along with his wife and their 4 daughters, decided to invest in building their own micromill.
Cultivation
Their farm, called Finca Los Cedros, spans 40 hectares near Buena Vista Rivas. It is named after the huge cedar trees that are located on the farm and provide shade for coffee trees. The farm was originally planted solely with Caturra and Catuai, but the Alvarados have since also added other varieties including Villa Sarchi.
Harvest & Post-Harvest
Cherry is selectively handpicked and processed on Joicafe Micromill. At the mill, cherry is visually inspected and floated to remove any underripes. Cherry is placed in bags and fermented for 72 hours. Following fermentation, cherry is laid on patios to dry. Workers rake drying cherry frequently to ensure even drying. It takes approximately 19 days for cherry to dry. Once dry, cherry is bagged and stored in the Joicafe warehouse for 2 to 3 months.
About Villa Sarchi
Villa Sarchi comes from Sarchi village in Costa Rica where this natural mutation of a Bourbon coffee variety was first discovered. This variety is most productive at high altitudes with shade trees and regular fertilization.
Coffee in Costa Rica
Thanks to tireless innovations, the sheer number of coffee varieties, extensive technical knowledge and attention to coffee production, Costa Rica is one of the most advanced coffee producing countries in Central America.
The climatic conditions in the country also play a role in the high quality of coffee produced. There are eight coffee regions: Guanacaste, West Valley, Turrialba, Valle Central (Central Valley), Tres Rios, Brunca, Orosi, and Tarrazú, a specific part of Valle Central.
Costa Rica has also become a world leader in traceability and sustainability in coffee production. Ninety percent of the country’s 50,000 coffee farmers are smallholders, and today, many deliver their cherry to boutique micro-mills that often process cherries according to producer specs to retain single-lot or single-farm qualities.
The rise of micro-mill processing, in itself, is a relatively recent development. Prior to the early 2000s it was common for smaller producers to deliver their cherry to cooperative-owned mills. As lucrative specialty markets developed, more and more farmers began establishing mills on their own farms, giving them increased control over processing and more assurance of the ‘traceability story’ so important to the growing market segment. Mills with excess capacity would then offer their services to neighboring farmers, offering a range of processing methods for small lots along with full traceability for roasters and importers. The system has enabled Costa Rica’s small to mid-sized coffee farmers to offer a wide range of differentiated products. Today, specialty lots from Costa Rica are almost as likely to bear the name of the micro-mill where they were processed as that of the producing farm.
The typically uncertain and dry weather patterns in Costa Rica make coffee farming more difficult. Long dry seasons and unpredictable weather patterns have virtually eliminated the possibility of organic farming. Nonetheless, both the government and farmers have taken active steps to protect the environment. Some of these restrictions also inform the processing methods for which Costa Rican coffee has become known.