For me, visiting coffee farms is like visiting old friends. Each farm, in each region, has its own unique personality. Within each country there are distinct micro-climates that impact coffee flavor profiles. For example, Tarrazu’s high elevation increases the brightness of this delicious coffee.
Coffee cherries are like no other fruit and to inspect them up close, first-hand, reveals details of the coffee quality you cannot glean otherwise. It’s valuable to see directly the ripening stages of the cherries on the branch, the cherry size, the yield quantity and overall health of the tree. These are all first-hand indicators of coffee quality.
Palmares is the name of both the town and the cooperative in this West Valley region of Costa Rica. I first visited this remarkable coffee growing region in 2002 and it is always a privilate to return. The people of Palmares cooperative are forward thinking in their approach to specialty coffee. They are gracious people and care deeply about the environment — one of the first to help protect the waterways. Monte Crisol coffee from Palmares is our longest standing relationship - 19 years, and counting. Jose Angel and the Palmares Co-operative produce an elegant and bright classical Costa Rican coffee.