Coffee Stories 12th August 2026

Growing for the Next Hundred Years

When visitors arrive at Aquiares Estate, Diego Robelo doesn't take them straight to the coffee.

Instead, he leads them through the trees to a 132-foot waterfall hidden within the farm. It's an unexpected place to begin a coffee tour, but somehow it makes perfect sense. Before you taste the coffee, you experience the place.

Standing beneath the waterfall, it's easy to understand why Diego starts here. Aquiares feels different. Coffee grows beneath native shade trees, rainforest borders the estate, and every decision is made with the next hundred years in mind.

A Different Way of Farming

Most coffee farms are measured harvest by harvest.

Diego measures success differently.

"We're not a company that judges itself quarter to quarter. We have a different way to measure our success: long-term stability. Our mission is to be here 100 years from now."

That philosophy can be seen across the estate.

Since 2000, Aquiares has planted more than 50,000 native shade trees, transforming former full-sun coffee fields into a thriving agroforestry system. Today, the farm captures around four times more carbon than it emits while restoring biodiversity across the landscape. Estate surveys recorded just 30 bird species in 2003. By 2020, that number had grown to more than 140. Sloths and ocelots have returned too, making their home among the trees once again.

These aren't projects for the next harvest. They're investments in the next generation.

More Than a Coffee Farm

Aquiares is as much a village as it is a coffee farm.

Around 1,800 people live within the estate. There are homes, a school, a clinic and a café. Today, around 96% of workers own their own homes, creating a level of stability that's rare in coffee production.

That long-term thinking extends beyond the people who live here.

This lot comes from Mariana, an F1 hybrid chosen for its resilience in a changing climate without compromising on cup quality. Unlike many early hybrids, Mariana can be propagated from seed rather than expensive laboratory techniques, helping make climate-resilient coffee more accessible to producers.

Healthy forests, thriving communities and resilient coffee all grow from the same idea: looking further ahead.

In the Cup

All of that care eventually arrives in one very simple moment.

The first sip.

Costa Rica, Mariana Washed is mellow and beautifully balanced, with notes of caramel, vanilla and candied lemon. Soft, sweet and approachable, it's the kind of coffee you'll happily brew every morning. An everyday coffee in the very best sense.

At Aquiares, every cup begins long before harvest. It begins with people, patience and a belief that coffee should leave the land better than it found it.

We're proud to share this remarkable farm with you.