The farm

Founded in 1960, Tarrazú is now accepted as one of the best groups in Costa Rica, and (incredibly) is still run by farmers. In the last fifteen years, there’s been an increase of 50% in the number of partners that they work with, which has increased production by 70%. 

El Canet is a community within the San José region, comprising just 46 producing families with smallholder lots. The cooperative offers farmers terms of credit, technical support, preferential pricing for supplies, and fertiliser created from the waste of multiple farms in the area. Alongside upcycling the discarded coffee pulp into natural fertiliser, the co-operative also provides coffee trees for maintaining crop health, agronomy support, and has an office run entirely on solar panels.

The Tarrazú Region, in the Los Santos Zone, within the San José Province produces around 40% of the national total every year. The vast majority of the farms in this area are grown under shade, allowing for slower ripening of coffee cherries and a greater intensity of flavour and sweetness. The climate and soil composition (sedimentary with some acidity) are ideal for producing exceptional coffee.

The coffee

The varietals used in El Canet are very typical of Costa Rican coffee as a whole. Caturra and Catuai are two of the most popular coffee varietals in the entirety of Central America, due to their incredible resistance to leaf rust, and impressive yields. To highlight the natural elements of this origin, El Canet uses a very clean washed process, giving all of the flavours you would hope for from a speciality Costa Rican.