This small group is comprised of 6 families, nestled into Chirripo National Park close to the border of Panama. They represent 40 people who all work together to produce the coffee for San Jeronimo de Chirripo Micromill.

The Solis family had always sold their coffee into the regional co-operative but one member of the family, Mario Quiros was aware that his small farm and those of the other related families were at a greater elevation than other coffee producers in the region and would have the potential to produce higher quality. In 2009 they constructed their own micromill to enable them to process their own coffee cherry and keep it segregated. The parchment coffee is sun dried on African beds. Coffee pulp is composted using the similar California worm system I recorded at Santa Ana La Huerta, Guatemala. This organic material is a rich source of compost nutrients for the coffee trees.

 

We cupped an early sample lot in December 2009 which presented impressively. Fresh acidity, very clear on the palette, layers of citric then rolling into black tea and dark cherry finish. Our visit to introduce ourselves to the families in Jan 2010 confirmed our understanding of their circumstances and of their desire to develop a relationship with a roaster that would give them incentive to continue to focus on developing the quality of their crop.  They have segregated their bourbon cultivar to create a special Exceptional lot for us.