Joiner Alvarado and his family grow coffee in the foothills of Chirripo, the tallest peak in Costa Rica. The region, Brunca, is not historically known for specialty coffee, and Joiner set out to change this. Ten years ago, Joiner planted his first specialty grade Arabica coffee there– a huge gamble, given that there was no precedent for this in the surrounding farms. By bringing processing in-house and carefully tending to the delicate plants, Joiner’s risk has paid off in a big way. The coffee coming from the Alvarado family’s farm is some of the best we have had from Costa Rica, and is a true success story for an underrepresented region.
This full-honey processed coffee has unique fruity and floral flavors that shine through a sweet, chocolate base. Expect delicate dragonfruit and punchy grenadine notes along with tropical fruit and creamy cashew. Filter methods like pourover, drip, or Chemex are best to highlight the sweet fruit tastes, while immersion brew methods like French Press will emphasize the creamy cashew and chocolate notes.
From our importing partner, Trabocca:
Producer Story
In an area where we see massive potential for extraordinary coffees, not everyone is courageous enough to commit to specialty coffee. Joicafe (the wet mill where Joiner Alavado’s coffee is processed) is in a small town named Rivas de Perez Zeledon which is on the foothills of the tallest peak in Costa Rica, Chirripo. In the past, this growing region of Brunca has had a tarnished reputation, but this newly discovered growing area is changing that. The Alvarado Family is a big part of this revolution happening in a new town crafting micro lots. Joiner comes from a family that farmed many things, but not necessarily focused in coffee. Now, his decision to plant new and young farms in previously unused for coffee lands has lead to excellent fruit today. Along with his family, his wife and three daughters, they run a very organized and detailed wet mill for their farms and partnerships.
Lot Description
El Cedro (the name of Joiner’s farm) get it’s name for the cedar trees that still reside there as well as the many that were grown there for wood by the family before. Due to the nature of how the wood bearing trees were planted and managed, the landscape and the soil impacts the coffee that is growing there now in a positive way. As this family and the group of farmers in this town started to notice the potential in planting specialty coffee around 10 years ago they decided to plant the dependable Catuai variety.
Processing
Joiner’s 3 daughters are the ones taking charge of wet milling the family’s excellently grown and collected cherries. In this case, they chose to keep it straight forward and simple with the Cedros Cataui. As raw coffee comes into the processing station, they begin to pulp the cherries and leave most of the mucilage on the parchment – a full honey. Once ready to sun dry, they place the cleaned seeds on raised drying beds in thin layers, making sure to move/turn the coffee frequently throughout the day. Usually the whole process takes about 10-12 days of careful attention and constant effort.
781 Wheeler St NW
Studio 1
Atlanta, GA 30318
