Costa Rican coffee is one of our staple coffees here at Moja Coffee. Our Costa Rican offering comes from Hacienda La Amistad, which gives the coffee its nickname of “La Amistad” coffee. As far as our roast of this coffee goes, it leans towards the citric end of this region’s taste profiles: a silky-smooth body and bright acidity reminiscent of Granny Smith apples.

We just got a new crop of Costa Rican coffee in at Moja, freshly harvested, and wanted to share with you some more background on the region where it is grown.

The beans come from a region in Costa Rica that borders on Hacienda La Amistad, one of the largest private nature reserves in Central America, located near the Panamanian border. The Estate has been around for over 70 years, producing quality coffee that has been supporting over 22 families. The estate was bought out in the ’80s by the Montero family who began to grow the coffee organically, way before the organic craze we have before us today.

The estate grows the coffee at 1,200~1,500 meters above sea level, which is prime range for coffee. The estate itself is over 23,000 acres in size with the nature reserve set between each of the coffee farms. This allows for clean water to be used in all processing facilities, as well as supplies drinking water for all the families that grow the coffee. They use this water to generate power and run the machinery of their on-site mills. La Amistad is also a UNESCO World Heritage Site due to its biodiversity. You can learn more about the farm and the nature reserve here.

Photo and roasting notes by Sean Wiseman.