Costa Rica - Don Eli Tematica 2 - Catuaí, Honey Reposado

Producer: Carlos and Jacob Montero 

Wet Mill: Don Eli

Elevation: 1800 masl

Region: Los Santos /Tarrazu (El Llano de La Piedra, San Marcos)

Farm Size: 3 hectares

Variety: Catuai

Process: Honey Reposado (ALL mucilage is left on, only the skin of the cherry is removed)

Producer History
The Montero Family have been visionaries, pioneers, and game changers in the Micro Mill Revolution in Tarrazu, Costa Rica. Carlos Montero has been growing coffee his whole life and comes from a long line of farmers. He had the vision of processing their own coffee fruit and working more directly with consumers - constructing Don Eli, named after his father, in 2014. Carlos was also instrumental in encouraging many other coffee growers in the Tarrazu region to do the same and begin creating relationships with roasters. Jacob has taken charge of the wet mill over the years and really honed in his passion for processing their fruit. This year, they added a humble dry mill station to prepare their parchment for export. Always adding onto their skillset, improving quality, and strengthening their direct relationships.

Lot - Tematica:
Tematica means subjects or topics in Spanish. It was Carlos’ vision to have a place where he could do and share with others various disciplines - with focus on environment, coffee, sustainable agriculture, and exchange of ideas. That was his dream when he was finally able to take out a loan and purchase the land which became available in the early 2010’s - just on the other side of the Pirris River from his home. After years of hard work, sacrifice, and development the farm now houses the wet mill, Don Eli, a structure for visitors to stay and host events, as well as an “organic” farm for research and demonstration. The area of Tematica where coffee is grown in an organic or biodynamic style is actually referred to as the Chamaco Lot. This is because Carlos bought the land from a man named Chamaco who had not disturbed the land since he purchased it in the 70s.

Unlike many farms in the area, the forest which makes up the Chamaco Lot was not destroyed in order to make way for coffee plantations. Rather, the land has coffee planted among the indigenous growth that has always resided there. Many of the coffee trees found in this farm were planted nearly 100 years ago. Back then, the Typica Variety or as it’s often referred to as Cafe Arabigo was popular to plant. Until today you can see those same tall, strong, and low yielding plants growing under the canopy of the natural forest. As time went on, Carlos added plants where he could within the woods - experimenting with a few other varieties ie Catuai, Mundo Novo, Yellow Bourbon, Ethiopian Lineages, and others.

These efforts were always to see how each variety would behave in this shaded, crowded, and organically managed plantation. Carlos has been dedicated not to use any synthetic products in this farm - which is nearly unheard of in a productive field. The only materials added or used in this farm are made on this property from byproducts also coming from the same land. While it is not the most productive farm Carlos has, it definitely attracts a lot of intrigue and results in a quality in which one can taste the sustainable nature of. This is a natural coffee farm that the entire family is very proud of, has taught and inspired many coffee lovers, and creates some beautiful coffees to drink.

Processing - Honey Reposado:
The coffee fruit is collected by the same group of Indigenous Panamanians that have been coming to work with Carlos for decades. The sacks of cherries are brought to the wet mill and allowed to rest or ferment until the next day. That’s when Jacob takes over the process and puts the expertly picked coffee through the Penagos depulper. He chooses to leave all of the mucilage on the parchment which has already become a little darker and more red from leaving the cherries in the propylene bags overnight. Once separated from the fruit flesh or skin, the mucilage covered parchment is placed on raised drying beds in a thick layer. For the first 2 or 3 days the coffee is not moved too much - maybe 3 or 4 times during the day. Again, causing the mucilage to continue a controlled ferment and become darker in color. Once the parchment really starts to get dry it is moved more frequently and gets spread out into a thinner layer. After frequent moving/turning for approximately 15-18 days the coffee is ready to get bagged up (10-11% humidity) and rest in the parchment for 2-4 weeks.

Dry Milling
This was the first year that Don Eli had their own little humble dry mill to prepare their own coffees. Right on sight, they peel the parchment, sort by screen size, sort by density, and later sort for defect by hand or electronic color sorter in another warehouse.

What’s New?
The Montero Family makes noticeable improvements every year. Some of the most recent are continuing to plant new and progressive varieties. They also make improvements to both the wet and dry mill. Adding drying methods, fermenting methods, dry milling equipment, and quality capacity.