Our small producers knew how to harvest coffee and combine their cultivation with ornamental plants, fruit trees and other crops, resulting in a habitat for lots of birds and pollinators necessary to preserve several species of bees, hummingbirds, butterflies and botanical species, besides granting our coffee that fruity flavor. Nowadays this philosophy is materializing under a program named NAMA (National Appropriated Mitigation Actions) headed by CATIE, the Universidad de Costa Rica and other non-governmental organizations, that are looking to go carbon neutral in the production of coffee.
This topic has been taken seriously by producers like Coopedota (Dota Coffee Growers Cooperative) that currently is the only Carbon Neutral Certified coop worldwide. Additionally, cultivating and processing our coffee is a family teamwork, as the crop is collected manually. The families will only collect the ripest coffee cherries and the process will be complemented by a careful sun-dry.
Various buyers are often invited to personally experience this process and this practice has encouraged the best coffee tasters in the world to come to the happiest country in the world to share smiles with our families, while tasting a cup of one of the best coffees in the world.
That´s why when a Japanese, European or North American tastes a cup of Costa Rican coffee, they are not only getting the most intense fruity flavors, but also the confidence to collaborate with nature and mitigation of the Carbon Footprint. This added value is not obtained from other coffee origins. There is no comparison anywhere in the world with our coffee, the flavor obtained from the volcanic soil combined with a careful traditional process makes every cup more than just a cup of coffee, you will experience such magical moments that you will never forget this wonderful coffee produced in paradise.
Article by Ronald Segura © rosem28@gmail.com
Photo: Diego Ponce © 2016
