Aquiares, Diego Robelo

Roaster notes

One of Costa Rica's most historic coffee farms situated high on the slopes of Turrialba Volcano between two rivers. Founded in 1890, Aquiares is both a farm and community where the company has always reinvested in building roads, schools, and helping workers purchase their own homes. This exceptional lot features Esperanza, an F1 hybrid variety unique to Aquiares—a cross between Sarchimor and a wild Ethiopian variety specially selected for its attributes suited to the farm's unique climate. Originally developed as L04A05, Diego Robelo chose 'Esperanza' (hope in English) to represent the promise experimental varieties offer for coffee farming's future in a changing climate. The processing team sought to preserve true bean notes and terroir by developing an innovative method: fresh cherries are transported to a specially built greenhouse protecting them from UV light, then placed in an open-top mechanical dryer. For the first 24 hours, coffee dries without agitation—what they call 'sealing' the cherries to remove moisture and concentrate flavor. After sealing, cherries ferment sealed in plastic bags for 72 hours before being fully dried mechanically for 5 days.

Tasting notes