Mark, Justin and Chris Carter, an FSA representative that won a Portland Roasting-sponsored trip for top salesman last year, are enjoying their tropical sojourn to our Farm Friendly Direct™ farm, La Hilda Estate in Costa Rica.
Mark weighs in on the trip:
I spent the day with Justin and Chris, who were enjoying their first visit to a coffee-growing region. Coffee tasting and cupping started our day. We cupped coffee of varying grades from two separate growing areas. It was evident how different a cup of coffee can be from tree to tree.
Next up was a 45-minute drive to La Hilda estate, our Farm Friendly farm where we sponsor a computer instructor for the children of the estate. This is where we purchase most of our Costa Rican coffee from this farm, owned by the Vargas family. We were greeted by coffee pickers picking the last of the year’s coffee. They are in the final stages of picking, known as stripping. This is when all the coffee is picked off the tree to get ready for next year’s crop. Coffee pickers clean all the coffee off the tree — red or green — and the coffee is sorted at the mill. Most of this coffee is saved for local consumption because it doesn’t meet specialty coffee standards.
The coffee we buy consists of red, ripe cherries that produce a full flavor, bright acid, cup of coffee. La Hilda Estate, over the years, has offered up consistent coffee and continues to shine as one of our Farm Friendly Direct coffees. We visited the school, where we pay for the computer instructor’s salary. Shc comes to the classroom three times a week to teach the 40 students.
Note the rainbow in the picture! This is Costa Rica’s summer, so no kids were present. If you have a hankering for a trip to a coffee-growing region, this is a good place to start.
Tomorrow, we are off to visit the volcano!
