Geisha

La Lia

La Lia sits at 1900 metres above sea level in the Tarrazu region, only 50 kilometres south of the Costa Rican capital San Jose. The Talamanca Sierra runs through Tarrazu, 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 the Ureña brothers to produce excellent coffees at La Lia. Luis Alberto and Oscar Adolfo Ureña Monge built the mill at La Lia in 2007, right at the peak of Costa Rica’s micro mill revolution. However, the land it was built on has been owned by the Monge family for over 70 years, and coffee production has been in the family for generations. This is important to the brothers, and named the mill after their mother to reflect this. The opportunity to take control over their own value chain, producing quality coffees in return for higher payments has revolutionised the family business.

Since the beginning of the micro mill project, Luis and Oscar have worked tirelessly to produce the highest quality, investing in exotic varietals and equipment that allows ever great control over processing in the mill. This lot is an example of both. Luis and Oscar have been growing Geisha on the highest plot of their farm, Pie San, for several years, and it’s been consistently producing excellent quality raw material. This lot is then processed as a honey, using La Lia’s Penagos eco-pulper to control the amount of fruit left on each seed.

Costa Rica

We buy coffees from a long spine of Costa Rica, running through the country’s capital San Jose. This spine is famous for high quality coffee production the world over, resulting in high prices for farmers. One of the reasons for this is plentiful high altitude, the Talamanca Sierra runs through the region, with peaks of above 3000 masl. This spine is split into 3 regions, the West Valley and Central Valley to the north of San Jose, and Tarrazu to the south.

In all of these areas, but especially in Tarrazu, agriculture and coffee growing is a main employer, vital to the economy. In fact, the population of Tarrazu is multiplied by three during harvest season, when workers flock to the region for the high wages paid to skilled pickers. The entire spine is mainly of volcanic origin, helping to provide fertile soils conducive to the production of consistently high scoring coffees, which we keep going back for. 2022 marks the ninth year we have worked with our Costa Rican export partners at Exclusive Coffees, and the producers they have connected us with just keep on delivering excellent and transparent coffee experiences.