Coffee Bios
Finca La Meseta is a small farm on the outskirts of Jardín, Colombia. The farm utilizes rasied beds and a warehouse where the coffee in parchment can dry evenly under cover. Finca la Meseta is part of La Minita's Jardín mill quality program where producers are paid a per pound premium for exceptionally picked and processed coffees. Finca La Meseta is balanced with pleasant chocolate, orange, and vanilla notes.
Felix Galan has been delivering his coffee to La Minita's Jardin mill since 2008 and only recently have we begun the process of keeping his deliveries separate to sell as single farm coffee. The unique west-facing location of Finca Orizaba in the Andes micro-region of Jardin gives this coffee a different cup profile from other Andes coffees showcasing extra orange citrus notes and a honeyed sweetness.
Located in Santa Maria de Dota, Finca La Pastora has been in the same family for over 60 years. La Minita has worked with Finca La Pastora since 2004. For several years the farm supplied great quality cherry to our mill, Beneficio Rio Tarrazu. In 2011 the farm built its own micromill and now supplies us both cherry and green coffee. La Pastora processes the coffees in many ways that highlight the differences of each process.
Back in 1870, the Silva family decided to sow coffee trees in one of the highest summits of the Apaneca-Ilamatepec Mountain Range. They named the 28 hectares of land Siberia, for its chaotic weather conditions and its difficult accessibility. The Silva family processes the coffees from Finca La Siberia in many ways and they are very sweet, clean, and balanced with red fruit and honey flavors.
The road drags you in a landscape of unsuspected beauty. The dirt disguises every mile like daring your imagination to find what you think is an ideal terrain for growing such a noble bean. The narrower the path, the wider view posing with luxuriant nature and magnificent mountain hills until your eyes discover El Guatalón y Anexos, integrated by five parcels: La Loma, El Cuje, La Buganvilia, El Pajuil and El Guatalón. The first one belongs to Jalapa department while the other three are located in Santa Rosa department, in the municipality of Santa Rosa de Lima.
Since the late 1960’s, Hacienda La Minita has been the foundation of our company. We have exported coffee under the La Minita banner since 1985, becoming one of the initial coffees to be sold as a single estate coffee in the world. Milling operations were added in the early 2000’s and in 2014, the operation was acquired by ITO EN.
Hacienda La Pradera is a 181 hectare coffee farm in the heart of the Los Santos region at 1,550 meters above sea level. The bulk of our harvest is from the caturra variety which is well suited to the soil and climate of the area. The cup is bright and sweet with medium heavy body, and contains flavor notes of citrus, maple, caramel, and bittersweet cocoa.
In 2015 La Minita introduced a Direct purchase program. We buy coffees from specific farms that we have targeted as producing superior coffees. The coffees are brought into our trilladora, Empresas de Jardin and kept segregated throughout the process. Empresas de Jardin was built in 2008 with state of the art equipment.
Kenyan coffee enjoys a celebrated reputation for its bold and distinctive flavor. La Minita cups hundreds of samples each year and selects only the most intense and sophisticated top auction lots. We have a special fondness for brilliant Kenya coffees with their wine-like acidity and ripe fruit flavors.
Finca la Bella is located in a subtropical climate surrounded by forests in the heart of Las Minas Mountain ridge.
During four generations, the skills of planting, of growing, of harvesting, and of processing have been handed down to each member of the family. This is why the location, altitude and process influence in taste, in aroma, and in acidity, perfection La Bella’s generations have seeking throughout the years.
This complex coffee is grown by 15 members of the Marino family living in the Manantial zone, right at the edge of the Chinchiquilla forest, in the most mountainous region of Chirinos in northern Peru. These organic farms are improving the health of their coffee trees by building organic compost fertilizer plants on their farms. Notes of plum, raisin, almond, tropical fruits, floral, bright acidity.
La Flor del Café Antigua comes from the Pastores mill in the heart of Antigua. We go into the mill and draw samples of all the year's delivered coffee and choose the lots from which we wish to prepare shipments. The coffee that we select is the absolute cream of the crop. Then, when it is time for us to make a shipment, our quality control team flies from Costa Rica to Guatemala where they supervise the preparation of the coffee.
The fruit that comprises La Gladiola comes from two specific receiving stations in the north-western part of the Los Santos region. We purchase the cherry directly from our network of farmer partners, process it at our mill, Beneficio Rio Tarrazu and keep it separated from our other trademarks.
Our La Sonrisa coffee is comprised of coffees we purchase from only the highest elevation farms in the Coto Brus region of Costa Rica. This area borders Panama to the south, and nudges up against the largest rainforest preserve in Central America, Parque Nacional La Amistad. La Sonrisa is milled to our precise specifications at Beneficio Rio Negro where we have complete control over the final preparation.
The Mutu Batak is a name descriptive of the quality of the Batak people. It is produced in the Lintongnihuta on the southern shores of Lake Toba and is another completely sun-dried and triple-picked coffee. This high quality preparation with the heavy body that is characteristic of the region. It has great acidity for Sumatra, loads of clean and rich tobacco flavor, and a long lingering sweet butterscotch finish.
