Two of the most popular coffees at The Cultured Cup are La Minita, a light city roast, and its more darkly roasted version, La Minita Viennese. Several years ago, I had the opportunity to visit the La Minita coffee plantation in Costa Rica and want you to know about the extraordinary care that goes into making this special coffee. La Minita is one of the only coffees where quality is controlled completely from seed to cup.
The La Minita plantation is located about 1-1/2 hours drive from San Jose, the capital of Costa Rica, in the scenic Los Santos region. Located between 4,000 to 6,000 ft. elevation, the 1,200 acres is bordered by the Tarrazu and Alumbra rivers. Volcanic enriched clay soil favors the growing of coffee and despite the altitude differences of the plantation, temperatures are moderated by the nearby rivers.
The farm has 80 full time employees and all these employees are provided housing, medical and dental care and fresh vegetables and fruit, which are grown on the plantation.
While sipping several freshly made margaritas, using limes grown on the plantation, I experienced my first sunset on the porch of the plantation’s guest house. That night, I slept like a log. The next morning was my first day of picking coffee. Strapping a large coffee basket to my stomach, I positioned myself at an impossible angle and began picking coffee. After two hours of pushing, and struggling to reach the ripe, red coffee beans, the contents of my basket paled in comparison to the workers from the plantation. The plantation foreman told me to keep my day job, but this experience will forever be in my memory.
I thought they said this was going to be easy?
What sets La Minita apart from almost every other coffee in the world is the hand sorting process, where highly skilled women pore over the coffee beans looking for any discolored or damaged beans that were not separated by the mechanical bean processing. Out of 100 lbs. of coffee beans, only 23 lbs. meet the standard of La Minita. As I know first-hand from my adventure at La Minita and enjoying this coffee each morning - having just been roasted, ground, and brewed (what a way to wake up!) - this is quality that you can taste in your cup.
Interested in trying it for yourself? Come by our tasting room on Saturday, February 25th for a free cup!