Finca La Luisa was started in 1854 by Don Francisco Otoya, found of the neighborhood Bario Otoya in San José. He named the farm after his daughter, Luisa. Coffee was first planted in the early 20th century and eventually, the variety Villa Sarchí itself was first discovered on this farm. Oscar Flores Negrini, the current farm owner, took over La Luisa in 2011 and replanted. He introduced new varieties but has maintain the farms loyalty to its innate variety, Villa Sarchí. The total farm size is 1000 hectares of which 60% is planted in coffee and the remaining land is saved for sugar cane cultivation and forest development. There are an abundance of natural rivers and springs throughout La Luisa and this fertile parcel averages an annual production of 2000 quintales.
Coffee here is harvested by hand, depulped and proccessed on a new beneficio (as of 2011), and sun-dried on patios.
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.
