About This Coffee
Owner Marvin Barrantes named his farm after his mother, Elisa Alfaro Hidalgo. Doña Elisa was well known in the town for her beautiful blue eyes. The locals of San Luis de Grecia said that only a queen could have such eyes and nicknamed her, “Reina Elizabeth.” Marvin also explains that, in addition to her beautiful blue eyes, Doña Elisa’s kindness also rivaled that of a queen.
Cultivation
Marvin’s farm is 8 hectares. To enable his production of single-variety lots, Marvin has divided his land to cultivate varieties separately. In addition to the Sarchimor variety in this lot, Marvin also cultivates Caturra, H1, Millenium, Geisha and Villalobos.
Harvest & Post-Harvest
Marvin established his milling operating in 2012 with only a small pulper and some raised beds. While honey processing is expensive, Marvin explained that the short distance from his fields to his mill, and his ability to capture the value from the processing stage, makes it possible for him to produce this excellent coffee.
Cherry is selectively handpicked by Marvin and his family and pulped on Marvin’s ecopulpers. They then lay parchment and mucilage on drying beds. They rake coffee frequently to ensure even drying. Coffee sundries for approximately 20 days.
Once dry, Marvin brings his parchment to Hacienda Sonora, where coffee is stored, dry milled and prepared for export.
About Sarchimor
Sarchimor is a ‘family’ of varieties that are hybrids of a coffee leaf rust (CLR) resistant hybrid from Timor-Leste and Villa Sarchi (a natural Bourbon mutation, like Caturra and Pacas). Sarchimor is a good mix of the flavor profile from Bourbon (via Villa Sarchi, a close genetic relative to Bourbon) and the resilience of the disease-resistant hybrid from Timor-Leste. There are several well-known Sarchimor varieties, including Marsellesa and Parainema.
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.