Coffee Plantation in the Volcanic Highlands of Costa Rica

The central highlands of Costa Rica are counted among the best regions worldwide for growing Arabica - the queen of coffee beans. The high altitude volcanic soils of our farm at 1,400 meters (4,600 feet) elevation are surrounded by a unique microclimate. Its beautiful morning sunshine and gentle afternoon rainfall provide the perfect climate for growing coffee.

Our gourmet coffee is described as "SHB" (Strictly Hard Beans), a classification system for Costa Rican coffees, with the characteristic of being cultivated above 1,200 meters (4,000 feet) above sea level. Slow growing highland trees give more energy to their fruits, making high-grown beans more intense in flavor and aroma.

The cultivation, care and harvesting of coffee is extremely labor intensive. It is a long way from soil preparation to final quality control. We go through every stage with high care, utmost precision - and a great passion for coffee.

Coffee Seedling Nursery:

It begins with the sowing. Coffee seeds germinate best if planted within eight weeks after being collected from their motherplants. They are sown one to two cm (œ to 1inch) deep, in specially constructed beds.

Coffee plants spend their first six weeks in a seed bed. After eight weeks the tiny plants reach the surface, sometimes even sooner. The seedlings are then transplanted to special foil planting bags, called polycovers, peat pots,

or directly into the earth in an intermediate growing plot.
Planting often takes place during the wet season, so the soil around the young trees remains moist while the roots become firmly established.

The seedlings will grow into small trees in the nursery until they are ready to be planted in the field.

They will be watered frequently and shaded from bright sunlight until they are hardy enough to be permanently planted ...

Started from seed, the "Catura" variety of Arabica coffee that we grow on our estate is the recognizid as the finest strain of coffee known to man.

Nine to ten months later, the young plants are 30 to 50 cm (12" to 20") tall. At this stage, they are transplanted to their final place in the coffee plantation, now at a distance of one to three meters (40 inches to 10 feet) apart.

Green coffee

Ripe coffee cherries

El Sueño Coffee plantation

Coffee plants are extremely demanding and need intensive care during the entire year, to be able to achieve high quality and good yields. The combination of the work and the geographic conditions ... temperature, sunshine, precipitation and soil ... is vital here.

By strategiclly locatating shade trees and other divers vergetation on the farm, the coffee plant receive the optimal balance between dayli sun and shade. The presence of different fruit trees and other native wood is also desirable, as it provides food an protection for birds and other animals.

Coffee is one of the most enjoyed drinks of the world. However, all coffee is not the same. Like fine wines the endproduct is dependent on soil, climate, plant care and processing. Estate grown coffees generally are superior to blends from different farms, in that the combination of this variables can be managed to consistently provide the unique, subtle nuances in flavor and aroma that we call character.

Coffee plants must be brought up and protected more than 4 long years, before they bear their first fruit. Their life span amounts about 25 - 40 years.

The annual harvest amount of a shrub corresponds to about 1 pound of coffee. To fill a bag of raw coffee to 60 kilograms (132 pounds), coffee pickers must reap the fruit from about 100 good weight-bearing Arabica trees.

The original ancestor of the coffee plant of today was "Coffea". Two strains of coffee are grown almoast exclusivly today... "Coffea Arabica" and "Coffea Robusta".

Momotus momota (40cm)