Costa Rica Mayra Solis

Serving delicious coffee is obviously one of our main goals, but we also love to do what we can to support the prosperity of the people who actually grow the coffee we sell! So it’s amazing when we can link all these things together and not only support an individual, but a whole lineage of coffee growers who have been able to invest in their own quality practices. In the face of economic and climate uncertainty, creating opportunities and resiliency now and in the future are some of the best tools we have to build stability.

The Solis family started their own micromill, Alto El Vapor, on their own farm in 2021 after having cultivated the land for coffee and more for generations. Despite this legacy of coffee growing, Doña Mayra’s children left home to study at university; with her son even taking an agronomy and coffee industry-related career of study. Her children collectively learned the various arts and businesses of coffee over the years and eventually came home to Santa María de Dota to rejoin their mother and supercharge the family operation. Where Doña Mayra had already achieved international recognition, they doubled down on quality and processing, opening up their operation to even more impactful partnerships like that with our trade partner, Bean Voyage.

We’re incredibly happy to offer this tremendous coffee that adds one step to the classic full-fruit fermentation “natural process.” You may recognize the word reposado (rested) from the world of tequila, which indicates a degree of aging before bottling, but not an extended barrel aging (as in tequila añejo). With this coffee, the “resting” process speaks both to an extended in-cherry fermentation (25 days!) but also extra time that the fruit is left on the seed after being dried to allow the coffee bean to "stabilize" before mechanically removing the fruit. The result of all the generations of coffee expertise before and the processing now is a dynamic cup with a refreshing malic acidity. This coffee can be intensely fruity, displaying a plethora of melon and mango characteristics that are complemented by a lavender and lightly floral herbaceousness. This is a coffee to show off to friends and family; but dark roast drinkers beware. Buy a bag now and forget about it for a few weeks. This natural reposado loves a little more reposo (rest) before giving its best, balanced cup.