The property at La Montaña has been family owned for 100 years. Producer Don Roger inherited La Montaña from his father in 1962, and, until recently, has grown mainly beans and grass. The cultivation of coffee at La Montaña was formerly on a small scale, since there was no road and transportation was very expensive. When harvesting, they had to transport the coffee almost 2 kilometers by horse along trails and through gorges.
In 1998, 5,000 coffee trees were planted to cover 1 hectare. During the planting, all of the soil and seed beds were transported 600 meters by horse.
In 2001, it was possible for Don Roger to hire a tractor to open a road, which to date has solved the transport of mature coffee. Since then, La Montaña has increased its planting area according to the potential that the land offers, and is produced with methods geared towards a high production level with strict cultural practices friendly to the environment.
Café Imports bought its first Costa Rica microlot container at the end of the 2006/2007 harvest; at that time, microlot offerings were basically nonexistent. In six years, the Costa Rican microlot market has grown, and now Costa Rica is one of the most popular origins, delivering very consistent quality year after year.
The Costas Café Imports is carrying are all sourced directly from micromills, and producers were paid at the farm-gate level. We managed local transportation, dry-milling, consolidation, and exportation of the coffees. This experience is extremely valuable, as it gives us a better understanding of what it takes to get coffee from cherry to export quality in GrainPro and jute with its corresponding marks.
Café Imports is excited to bring you, once again, high-quality and traceable microlots from Costa Rica.
— Piero Cristiani
For more information on coffee production in Costa Rica, visit our Costa Rica origin page.
