Costa Rica: Solis & Cordero

Highlights

“In Copey de Dota, high in Costa Rica's Los Santos mountains, smallholders grow gesha above 1,800 m, where cool air slows cherry maturation and builds aromatic depth. The lot is processed at Solis & Cordero Micromill, founded in 2018 by the Solis Cordero family to give small farmers direct access to the specialty market. Rather than blending a regional lot, the mill keeps each producer's coffee separate, preserving traceability and credit for the grower. Ripe red cherries are handpicked, inspected and washed, then dried whole on raised beds and raked regularly for roughly twelve days, so the fruit dries around the bean and layers sweetness into the cup. Gesha itself travelled from Ethiopian forests through Tanzania to Central America before its 2005 Best of Panama breakthrough. This natural Costa Rican expression sets that floral, elegant varietal character against jammy fruit and a creamy body: cupped at 89 points, with bright acidity and a long finish.”