Altos
Altos del Abejonal sits at 1800 metres above sea level in the Tarrazu region, only 70 kilometres south of the Costa Rican capital San Jose. The Talamanca Sierra runs through the region, with peaks of above 3000 masl. The farm is also close to the regional capital of San Marcos, which sits at 1350 masl and is home to 9000 people, providing the hub to an area famous for its high quality coffee production. The volcanic soil and afternoon cloud cover in the region provides the perfect conditions for Mauricio to produce excellent coffees at Altos.
Most Arabica varietals grown across the world are descended from the same small set of varietals taken out of Ethiopia and cultivated in Yemen in the 1600’s. This creates somewhat of a genetic ‘bottleneck’ for coffee, coming from incredibly diverse within Ethiopia, to almost 98% of coffee production in Latin America comprising of plants descended from just two varieties, Bourbon and Typica. These were the first ever cultivated coffee varietals, isolated from wild growing coffee in Ethiopia, and slowly used to populate the coffee growing lands of Yemen, India, and then Latin America as it was colonised by Europeans.
Typica took a slightly protracted route, being introduced to India in the famous story of Baba Budan, and from there being cultivated in Indonesia for a time. From this stock in Indonesia, a single plant was taken by Dutch settlers back to Amsterdam, and it is from this single tree that all modern Typica was introduced to Latin America.
This is the fifth year we have purchased a honey-processed Typica from Mauricio’s farm. The floral complexity of the Typical varietal is present here, along with the soft and sweet fruit notes that we so enjoy in other coffees from Altos, and the classic Tarrazu hazelnut notes.
Mauricio
We first met Mauricio by chance. In March 2014 we were in Tarrazu, travelling around farms as guests of Exclusive Coffees, an exporter based in the region. After the last farm visit, our driver had to make a quick errand to see a friend, whose son had broken his hip and couldn’t leave home. The driver dropped off a gift for the boy, while we made conversation with his father. He was also a coffee farmer, and told us stories of his passion for coffee production and of how his son wanted to become a barista. We visited Altos again the next day, and bought our first couple of bags. 2024 is our tenth year buying coffees from Mauricio.
In 2023, we visited Exclusive’s cupping lab in San José, cupping through Altos day lots together with Mauricio Jr., who’s now a qualified cupper, and takes responsibility for processing at the farm. This year, Junior was able to make the return trip to visit us in Copenhagen, touring our roastery and coffee shop in the city. The hard work and dedication shown by Mauricio and Mauricio Jr. at every stage of coffee production is obvious in the cup, and we are proud to showcase their work to so many of those who truly appreciate it.
