Costa Rica San Juanillo farm

COFFEE PRODUCER

San Juanillo farm

Tomas Gutierrez and Allan Vargas bought the farm in 2007 with the intention of regenerating the landscape and soil and planting new and exciting varieties. We first bought coffee from San Juanillo farm in 2019 and have visited several times. They grow various varietals using natural farming methods that encourage insect and bird life.

Overview

Location:

Naranjo, West Valley

Altitude:

1600 masl

Varietal:

They grow a range of varietals, including Marsellesa, H1 Centroamericano, Caturra, Catuaí and a small amount of Geisha.

Meet The Producers

We first bought coffee from San Juanillo farm in 2019 and visited them in 2020 and during the 2022-2023 harvest.

Tomas Gutierrez and Allan Vargas bought the farm in 2007 intending to regenerate the landscape, soil and to plant new and exciting varietals. The farm was originally planted with Caturra and Catuai trees. Tomas and Allan were keen to try out new varietals that showed better resistance to disease and those that show interesting cup character. In 2018 they purchased their neighbours' farm, increasing their total farm size to 12 hectares, and they are Rainforest Alliance certified. In 2015 they placed 19th in the Cup of Excellence competition with a coffee from their H1 hybrid varietal.

Harvesting & Processing

Every year, we buy San Juanillo's carbonic macerantion, natural and honey process coffees. Tomas and Allan employ a team of highly skilled pickers who are paid a premium for selecting only the ripest cherry. Many of these pickers travel to work in Costa Rica from Panama and Nicaragua. They are highly valued for their hard work and dedication during the harvest. 

For the natural process, after harvesting the coffee is transported to the Patalillo micro mill. The coffee cherry is floated in a fermentation tank to remove any defective cherry and then placed into sealed drums with a one-way pressure release valve and fermented. The coffee is then moved to raised drying tables inside a polytunnel to dry. The carbonic maceration natural is processed using the same method but first fermented in sealed containers for 48 hours.

For the honey process, after resting the coffee is pulped to remove the outer layer of fruit and the coffee is taken directly to raised drying tables for an initial two day drying period. The coffee is then moved to concrete patios for drying. They call this process red honey as the amount of mucilage and speed of drying tend to cause the mucilage to dry as a deep, vibrant red colour.

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