Known for high quality, high innovation, and a high price tag, coffee from Costa Rica looks very different from coffee elsewhere.

A working pollinator.

Not only does Costa Rica have broad initiatives that impact quality of life, like universal healthcare and education, but it also regulates coffee production with a minimum wage for farm workers and pricing standards for the market.

Having these regulations in place may raise prices down the supply chain, but it ensures that farms can operate with stability and reinvest in their own coffee quality. In Costa Rica, producers are able to stake more in experimental processing, high-quality cultivars, harvesting at ideal ripeness, and long-term infrastructure.

Agroforestry has been the standard practice for decades and, in 1996, Costa Rica halted and began reversing deforestation countrywide.

Johel M. Naranjo (far right) shows a group of visitors around the Hacienda.

Johel M. Naranjo is a third-generation coffee farmer known for his outstanding skills in Gesha cultivation—his coffees have dominated Cup of Excellence auctions since at least 2017. The lot we’re roasting ranked second in the Experimental category in 2025. Hacienda San Isidro Labrador is Johel’s micromill In Tarrazú, Costa Rica; it farms with regenerative and closed-loop techniques, intercropping guava and other shade trees. The high elevations, sharp temperature contrasts, and meticulous soil management create an ideal terroir for cultivating delicate Gesha.

Costa Rica COE #2 Johel M. Naranjo is available on our online store.