Costa Rica - Delfina Porras

Vamay Coffee is the product of a Costa Rican family business from Santa Maria de Dota, a rural area known internationally for the high quality of its coffee. The business began in March 2020, in the middle of the COVID crisis, and is led by Dona Mayra who, along with her son and two daughters, focuses on producing high-quality coffee and offering an unforgettable experience to every consumer. By working to create added value for their coffee, they aim to find better and more equitable opportunities in national and international coffee markets. Vamay Coffee is a micro-business committed to social and environmental wellbeing, and the family strongly believes that the production and processing of any food or drink should be sustainable. The coffee itself is grown in Alto el Vapor Farm, 90% of which is protected land. It also boasts springs that even supply the water for part of the Santa Mariade Dota community. The family behind Vamay Coffee is committed to protecting these unique features. The coffee plants are located between 1800 and 2100 metres above sea level, as a result of which Vamay Coffee is a high-altitude coffee. These factors, among others, such as the traceability offered, allow Vamay Coffee to guarantee excellence, dedication and love in every bean of their harvest. Given that the family lives in a rural area, they are dedicated to integrating sustainable development practices at Alto el Vapor Farm: although their main objective is to produce specialty coffee (green and roasted for the local market too), they also grow other foods between the coffee plants, including citrus fruits, banana, root vegetables, and green vegetables. In this way, Vamay Coffee avoids monocropping and works in a circular economy. This lot was harvested in February 2024, fermented on patio with thick cover for 48 hours and moved to raised beds to dry for 15 days until reaching 11% of moisture content.

Mayra and one of her daughters, Dalila are part of the learning groups Bean Voyage has set up in the area, Delfina, the second daughter is a Care Facilitator for Bean Voyage and helps creating and strengthening the community.

Bean Voyage is a feminist, non-profit organization working with women coffee producers with the objective of eradicating gender gap in farming communities. Falcon works with Bean Voyage in Costa Rica where they are supporting 120 smallholder women farmers. They have created women-only discussion groups to strengthen the women producers confidence and create a safe space for them to share their experience and support each other. They have created communities like this in many areas in Costa Rica. They also do in person and digital training involving higher level of technology to track progress and test the farmers on their knowledge. A huge part of the curriculum is focused on preserving biodiversity and the environment in general to tackle climate change and to produce more in adequation with the endemic ecosystems. Each farmer receives a minimum of 80 hours of training on 5 modules - farm finance, production, processing, quality analysis and gender/community. Bean Voyage also work on finding better markets for the micro lots produced with sustainable partners and fair prices paid. And this is how we started this partnership. On average, smallholder farming families see a 300% increase in farm income from farm-related activities after joining Bean Voyage this due to a better quality of the coffees but also better markets chains for the products.

Coffee Details

• Origin - Tarrazu
• Producer - Mayra Solis
• Varietal - Catuai
• Altitude - 1600
• Process - Natural
• Notes - Baked apricot, raspberry, jasmine, mango and a touch of cider, fine dark chocolate finish
• Cupping Score - 87