Costa Rica: Arbar, Kenya, Natural

There's a mesmerising medley of dark fruits in this funky coffee. An upfront hit of blackcurrant gives way to dark plums and fig, with a generous sprinkle of brown sugar before a dollop of treacle on the aftertaste.

Carlos and Maria Arrieta Soto’s family home and milling area are situated right in the middle of their Manantial farm, 1 of 5 small farms that they run between them. The family have in total: Manantial, Oasis, La Isla, La Casa, and Don Pedro. The name of their micromill that serves all the farms comes from their combined family names, Carlos ARrieta +Maria BARboza = ARBAR. Sweet right? Everything at the mill is laid out immaculately, with the drying beds, depulper, and nursery areas laid out around the edge of their house.

Carlos and Maria are very active members of the local community and have close relationships with their neighbours - which include CoE winning mills like Herbazu, Vista Al Valle, and Sumava. The farm operates mostly Organic processes, but they're not Organic certified. They believe in the value of biodiversity on the farms, and plants like fruit trees are positioned among the coffee plants to provide shade and to help the soil. These trees also provide food for the family. They even have a few sheep and other animals, with the farm being as self-sufficient as possible.

At present, they have 1 full time employee living at the estate, who is quite new. He’s young and had some complications which meant he couldn’t get his school qualifications. Carlos and the family liked that he was keen to work hard and prove himself, so he’s become a permanent fixture. For harvest, they are joined by a family of 6 workers (+2 wee bairns in tow) from Nicaragua. The remaining work is shared between all the family, but around their other commitments.  

Maria does a lot of the processing, but also some roasting for the local market - she remembers roasting coffee by hand over a fire with her dad when she was young and decided they should buy a small roaster once the farm was stable. Carlos does a lot on the farms but also helps with the processing. Esteban works for their exporter, Exclusive Coffees, and lives in the city. Before that, he was working at the wet mill at Sumava, which is owned by Francisco Mena (who also owns Exclusive Coffees). Jose Ignacio (Nacho) is at university in the city but comes home at weekends to help.  

When Carlos and his family started selling to us, it gave them a chance to try new things – with our prices giving them a chance to take bigger risks. One of the ways they did this was by trying small plantings of new varietals. When selling to a big cooperative it makes sense to grow safe coffee varieties like Caturra, Catuai, and Villa Sarchi. These are all proven to be relatively resilient, deliver good yields for the space needed, and produce a good cup quality. These days they’ve branched out to more unusual varieties, like Geisha and Bourbon, and the Kenya we’ve got here is a direct result of that!   

Versions of the Kenya varietal (sometimes written as Kenia or Quenya in Spanish) can be seen throughout CoE winning coffees in recent years. It tends to stand up well against Geisha lots, even when tasting side by side as is done for competition, because of the lively acidity it often possesses. It’s widely believed to be related to the famous SL28 or SL34 varieties from Kenya, known for their juicy acidity and notes of citrus and blackcurrant. When grown in Costa Rica’s Western Valley, this version brings a fascinating fusion of flavour - think the bright, crisp character of a classic Kenyan, layered with the silky body and deep sweetness that Costa Rican coffees are known for.

• Country: Costa Rica
• Region: Western Valley
• Area: Lourdes de Naranjo
  
• Producer: The Arrieta Barboza Family
  
• Micromill: Arbar
  
• Elevation: 1,600 m.a.s.l.
• Variety: Kenya (SL-28)
• Process: Natural

(Cup of Excellence Scale)

• Clean Cup: 6.5/8
• Sweetness: 7/8
• Acidity: 6.5/8
• Mouthfeel: 6.5/8
• Flavour: 8/8
• Aftertaste: 6/8
• Balance: 6.5/8
• Overall: 7/8
• Total Score: 90/100

Medium

Through the gap and let this develop a little in the gap before finishing before you get to second.