Sabrina Alvarado, Single Origin Coffee

Sabrina Alvarado is a young farmer with a huge passion for specialty coffee. While she comes from generations of coffee growers in her small town of San Isidro, she still dreamed of even more. Together, with the support of her father and the rest of her family, she decided to take action and fully realize the potential of their farm and put out some of the most meticulously farmed & traceable coffee possible. Just a few short years ago she took the risk and began to transform the coffee that her family has been cultivating and selling for so long as commercial coffee into high-end, good, clean, and fair specialty coffee. There is so much potential in her start-up project and it is so exciting to see her thriving as a coffee producer. We can't wait to see what the future holds!

The farm is a true family affair, much like all of the producer-focused single origins we offer.. Sabrina's father, Alberto, is in charge of production at the farm level. Sabrina handles all of the coffee processing, as well as sales. And her brothers are in charge of marketing and finance!

Costa Rica is essentially the home of modern honey processed coffees because of a massive earthquake in 2008... Unfortunately, this caused extreme water shortages, and strict government enforced water conservation measures. By not having access to fresh water in ample supply, coffee producers were essentially forced to dry their coffee in the slimy mucilage surrounding the seed of the coffee cherry... This mucilage is where most of the polysaccharides and simple sugars within the coffee cherry exist (things that love to ferment and produces acids & alcohols). By drying the coffee with this mucilage on, and constantly raking them to dry evenly, the resulting coffee (after roasting) has such beautiful levels of sweetness & complex acid structures. 

Sabrina's red honey catuai sits somewhere in the middle of how much mucilage is left on the coffee while drying, and thus produces a clean & classic middle point of what we like to enjoy in honey processed coffees. Look for macerated cranberry-like acidity, expressed apple skins, and orange zest in the cup. This coffee is delightfully soft on the palate, yet has a unique & complex acid structure that keeps you pondering. Enjoy! ❣️