Costa Rica | La Montaña

This is the second year that we could buy the entire harvest of Don Sabino's H1 Centroamericano microlot. Steven and Gilberth Vargas planted this high-yielding variety with good coffee leaf rust resistance and very good cup quality on their highest farm - La Montaña. Ripening is a bit slower here at around 1800m and this affects the cup profile. We get a coffee that is more elegant with juicy notes of mandarin and hibiscus and a sweetness reminiscent of panela.

Café Don Sabino is a family business run today by Gilberth Vargas Acuña and his son Steven Vargas Bastos. The history goes back to 1940 however, when Steven’s great grandfather and after him his son Sabino were among the pioneers of coffee production in the area of Sabanilla de Alajuela. 

It was in 2010 when Gilberth together with his family decided to completely focus on quality coffee and in the following years Café Don Sabino opened markets for their coffees in North America, Europe and Asia and Australia.

Don Sabino are especially renowned for their natural coffees. Here the pickers recollect only ripe cherries, which Steven simply calls “uva” (grape) and this coffee is then being brought to the beneficio. Basically in the backyard of his house, Steven built up a number of so called African beds ( elevated drying racks covered with a mesh ), where the fresh and humid coffee cherries are being spread evenly in thin layers. Defective cherries can be removed by hand. Now to prevent the development of overfermented flavours or even the spread of mold, the coffee cherries are being turned around every hour during daytime. In the afternoon at around 2pm, when the pickers stop working, the african beds are covered with a special plastic foil to protect the coffee cherries from the cold and humidity during the night. Depending on the weather conditions the drying process can take 13-14 days under favourable sunny conditions and up to 1 month, if it is cloudy.

Producer: Steven&Gilberth Vargas

Region: Sabanilla de Alajuela, Central Valley 

Altitude: 1820m

Variety: H1 Centroamericano

Process: Natural

Taste Notes: Hibiscus, Panela, Mandarin

WEIGHT: 250g

Please note that 250g bags can be shipped in kava boxes as an additional option. All grind sizes are approximate and in relation to the equipment we use. Grind size or setting might differ from your equipment preferences. If not certain order beans as we can't accept returns for pre-ground coffees. Thank you for understanding.