This sweet and mild coffee is eight years in the making. That’s when we began our partnership with Horacio and Alejandro Solís, the brothers behind the Don Oscar farm and wet mill in Tarrazú, Costa Rica. Now in its fifth generation, the Don Oscar farm is named for their father, Oscar Solís, who was instrumental in the local coffee community for growing specialty varieties and prioritizing quality processing techniques.
Since Don Oscar passed away, the brothers have remained stewards of the family coffee legacy. With a management team composed entirely of extended family and a staff of 75 to manage the 60-hectare estate, the Solís brothers are now in charge of a large portfolio of coffees designed entirely by themselves and guided by generations of experience.
Coffee is a year-round effort for the entire family and requires rigid consistency according to their standards. The Don Oscar farms receive soil analyses annually, as well as foliar feedings to maintain plant stability. The family has employed the same pickers, a group of indigenous families from Panamá who come to Costa Rica for work, for over 10 years and whose experience they value greatly. Local experts regularly calibrate processing equipment, and drying is managed using a system of patios, raised beds, and mechanical dryers to keep drying times slow and consistent regardless of local weather patterns. The overall goal, according to the Solís family, is for each bean to be perfectly controlled from picking to processing to guarantee that the “life of the bean" will be vibrant and long-lasting.
This harvest comprises high-grown coffee cherries that are hand-picked, quickly brought to the Don Oscar micro mill, and then honey-processed for a deeply sweet cup.
