Avenue Coffee - Finca Santos (Costa Rica)

The town of San Luis de Sabanilla falls within the province of Alajuela and is part of thFInca-Santos-Descriptione coffee producing region of Costa Rica known as the Central Valley. It is within this region that Costa Rica’s capital, San Jose, can be found and it is also the oldest producing area in the country. The three volcanoes of Poas, Irzu & Barva make this region particularly notable and have contributed towards a rich fertile soil highly suited to agricultural production. This combined with a defined wet and dry season, good rainfall and stable temperatures mean it is highly suited to coffee cultivation in particular.

Finca Santos is located on the slopes of the Poas volcano and has been owned by the Zamora family since 2004. The previous owner’s name was Santos which is where the farm takes its name from. When it was purchased the farm was planted with very old coffee trees and the decision was made to replant the whole farm. It is approximately 7 hectares in size with 70% being Catuai and 30% Caturra.

The Catuai varietal is a hybrid of Mundo Novo and Caturra and is highly resistant to natural elements that coffee trees face at higher altitudes.It originated in Brazil but is now widely planted throughout Central America. Both the red and yellow strains demonstrate high acidity. Caturra itself is a mutation of the Bourbon variety and is much higher yielding. Typical characteristics of Caturra are bright acidity and medium body.