San Carlos

Story written by Seilyn Jimenez, the producer of this amazing anaerobic Costa Rican coffee – translated from Spanish.

The name of our brand is made in memory of our grandparents – Albaro Abarca Herrera and Leonel Jimenez Abarca, who taught us the importance of constant, and honest work. With this learning, we started our business.

Located in the coffee farming regions of Tarrazu, the community is run economically and socially through coffee. we started our family project since 21 years ago, and spent the past 5 years focused on producing better quality, and allowing our coffee to differentiate itself in the cup. With this goal in mind in 2019, we started our micro-mill, Microbeneficio Abuelos Cafe.

Through the unsustainable economic situations that persisted, we continued to dedicate in coffee production. However, we decided to do it in a way that’s more direct, and to get directly connected to the final clients, offering them better product, better quality, and guaranteeing the traceability and better outcomes. Previously, we were harvesting coffee and selling them to mills in cherries form, and that’s how far we had arrived. Then, we started with a small lot of first harvest like a micro-mill. It was challenging to find clients, and we had to put a lot of work, and be patient throughout the process. With constant self-education, and training, and together, in our second year onwards, we were able to sell two micro lots. And with that, in this third year of running the mill, we are processing about 30% of our entire coffee harvest. It’s been really challenging to execute all the process involved in achieving the quality standard that we want from selecting, harvest and milling the coffees. However, we have not stopped growing, and learning each harvest to improve our work, quality and offer better product to the market.

We are a family business consisting of three people – Kamila, Emmanuel, Gustavo, Adolfo and Seilyn, who are all integral parts of the business. The ones that are directly responsible for everything that happen at the mill level, are 100% women – the mother (Seilyn) and the daughter (Kamila).

We envision continuing to do a quality job, growing professionally and personally, and to be reaching you — our customers who are there reading this and feeling a part of this story. I can assure you that thanks to each of you buying our product, you create an unimaginable butterfly effect. You impact our lives, the people that we are with, our families and all of this not only economically, but also more holistically. Because when we achieve a better quality of life, we grow integrally.

Green Coffee Cost including Shrinkage: $9.60 usd/lb
Green coffee cost is the price that we paid for this coffee, per pound including shrinkage (when we roast coffee, it looses about 10-15% of its weight). This coffee was purchased directly from Seilyn, with the help of our friends at Bean Voyage.

Production Cost: $6.73 usd/lb
These production costs are basically what it costs us to provide this coffee to you. This includes our utilities, labor, packaging, quality control, licenses, taxes, shipping the coffee from warehouse to our roastery.

Length of Relationship: 3 years

Transparency
We firmly believe that transparency in the coffee industry is of utmost importance, even though it is inherently complex. Our mission is to provide a candid account of the various factors involved in the production and preparation of this coffee, spanning from the farm to your cup. Furthermore, we aim to actively contribute to fostering open communication among the individuals who play a role in bringing this coffee to life. Nurturing this cycle of communication is crucial for advancing our industry, ensuring fair compensation for producers, and continuing to bring you better and better coffees each year. While this report may not cover every detail comprehensively, it is meant to initiate more profound discussions with you. If you have any inquiries, please don’t hesitate to contact me at [email protected]. I would be honored to continue these meaningful conversations with you. – Nick Yost, founder