Mariana

The cherries are floated to remove the lower-quality ones. The highest-quality cherries are washed and, without being pulped, are then sun-dried: 2 days of pre-drying on a ceramic floor and 10 to 15 days on elevated African drying beds, at temperatures ranging from 28 °C to 40 °C. The drying process concludes with one day in a Guardiola-type mechanical dryer. The coffee is then stored in GrainPro bags for 6–8 weeks, kept in its dried cherry form until it is hulled prior to export.

Aquiares is owned by Diego Robelo and his family and is situated on the slopes of the Turrialba volcano, at 1,400 MASL. Its name means “land between rivers” in the Huetar language. It is the largest single-block coffee plantation in Costa Rica, and its land is crisscrossed by various waterways that connect the two major rivers surrounding the farm, the Turrialba and the Aquiares. Hundreds of years ago, a small pre-Columbian community lived in this natural setting, and traces of that community can still be found today.

La Mariana is an F1 hybrid closely related to the Starmaya variety. It is a cross between IAPAR 59 and a local Ethiopian androesterile variety, and is one of the world’s first F1 hybrids propagated by seed rather than through tissue cloning. Under Diego’s leadership, Aquiares is committed to incorporating new varieties and experimenting with processing methods, and La Mariana fits right into that approach.

This is the tenth consecutive year we’ve worked together and the ninth in which we’ve dealt directly. We negotiate the price directly with Diego, who also acts as the exporter, so that commission also stays on the farm. We import the coffee ourselves, chartering a container directly from Costa Rica to Barcelona.

When replicating this recipe, there are various variables that can affect the final result of your cup, such as the roast date, how the beans were stored, the environment, the water, the condition of the equipment, and so on. It’s important to keep in mind that all these factors can have an impact, and you may need to make minor adjustments when replicating this recipe.