Another January Costa Rica Soiree 2012

There I was, once again, in Costa Rica. How did this happen? The coffee is overpriced in many cases. There are not many opportunities here. The cost of living is soaring and there are Americans with second homes or retirement homes all over. It is a very beautiful place, and I respect the farmers a lot. They are proud, independent and inventive, generally. Who can blame them for wanting everything they can get for their coffee? The main issue at play with rising prices is the competition by small buyers. This place is so easily accessed. Buyers swarm all over and drive up prices on themselves without a great regard for cup quality: When you have a lot of buyers with uncallibrated tastes and some limited experience, even some marginally defective lots will sell and high prices. There is still some very fine coffee. But CR is a difficult place to work. -Tom

Extra Luscious and Juicy Cherry Photo Mmmm... can't you just taste them. This is why we go to "origin" - to get real close to coffee...	A day's labor in CR Harvested coffee cherry, ready to deliver to Helsar Santa Lucia mill for processing, at the farm...	Tree-Roasted Coffee: Ne Plus Ultra in Freshness I have advocated direct-roast methods forever, and finally someone is trying it. This is a...
Coffee without shade... Nothing new in Costa Rica, but even the small guys do it without a speck of shade tree. Of...	Orange Bourbon or Pink Bourbon? Or Neither? While you can't say there is a huge flavor difference, odd variations are fun to find. And the...	Orange Bourbon, Eleomar and his mutants Whatever they were, they were nice looking, even for full sun plantings.
Orange/ Pink Bourbon It was difficult in person to figure out if these were more orange or pink. Definitely not...	Coffee and Power Towers Not enough photographs feature power lines and towers. It seems people want to exclude these...	Ned thinks about it all... Nothing makes you feel smaller than standing in a field of coffee ... well, unless they are...
Eleomar gets to the roots of things He has a unique way to put plants from the nursery into the field, and unique root pruning...	Tree Shadows on Fields of Flowers Naranjo, Costa Rica, Late afternoon	Arce Arrives Dumping Arce coffee into the Cahuela at Helsar Mill. Neat dump tractors they use there...
Lined up to be Dried Coffee in parchment, gathered off the patios for the evening at Helsar Santa Lucia	Don Mayo from above The famous and often photographed Don Mayo Macro Mill in Bajo Canet de Tarazu	Well, Which? A farm , A Micro Mill ... no, BOTH!