Costa Rica Aquiares | Washed Peaberry (Espresso)
$18.95
/
The first of THREE new offerings joining our menu this year from Aquiares Estate in Costa Rica! We love this coffee so much that we’ve dedicated two roast profiles to it. Joining the menu as our current espresso offering, a beautifully cared for washed peaberry from the respected producer, Diego Robelo. The farm was technically founded in 1890, but later dramatically transformed and innovated by Diego’s father, Alfonso, nearly a century later when he fled Nicaragua to keep his family safe from civil war. Alfonso built out the vision for the Aquiares community, and into one of the largest farms in Costa Rica, and a true innovator for the region and for the community. He also challenged the status quo by transforming the relationship between landowner and farm workers. He brought a visionary approach to Aquiares, a farm suffering from low prices and instability, and turned the farm into a small town where workers purchased their own homes, and could have more stability and certainty. Today, Aquiares remains a model of sustainable agriculture. Diego in the years since taking over, has led the farm with a fresh approach to specialty coffee and exploring the farm’s potential. Through excellent agricultural management, embracing new varieties, and experimenting with processing, Aquiares has become a trailblazer among specialty coffee producers in Costa Rica and all of Central America.
Aquiares focuses on carbon neutrality and measures its greenhouse gas emissions to calculate its carbon emissions against its offsets. An agent verified under the International Panel on Climate Change norms verifies these calculations and Aquiares’ carbon measurement and emissions reduction are part of Costa Rica’s Nationally Appropriate Mitigation Action. In addition to capturing carbon, the farm’s protected biological corridors have long ensured the wellbeing of local animals and plants. Aquiares also welcomes researchers from around the world to conduct agricultural and environmental studies on their land. Projects have included investigating the benefits of agroforestry on soil health and observing the diverse bird and wildlife species that thrive in an agroecological environment.
Aquiares is an example of innovation and perseverance whose benefits extend beyond the farm and workers and serve as a model for sustainable, equitable production for the broader coffee industry.
If you’re unfamiliar with a peaberry, it is a genetic mutation where two seeds inside of a coffee cherry grow to form one circular coffee seed — also known as a coffee bean! Theory has it that peaberry coffees are more flavorful because the nutrients in each cherry focus on one seed rather than two. This coffee is a traditional washed process, mechanically washed and then dried on raised beds in a solar dryer for 18-24 days.
We’re finding that the espresso profile is delicious and syrupy with plenty of body. Perfect for pulling a shot and sipping on it’s own or enjoying in your favorite latte. While the espresso profile is just subtly darker, the added development during the roasting process brings out more deep red fruit notes, apricot, dates, and sweet marzipan.