Juanilama (Costa Rica)

Caramel Apple, Green Grape & Lemon

Origin Costa Rica
Region Turrialba
Producer Diego Robelo, Aquiares Estate
Variety Centroamericano F1 Hybrid
Elevation 1,200 masl
Processing Co-Ferment, Washed

Aquiares (“land between rivers”) is Costa Rica’s largest coffee estate and home to about 1,800 people on the verdant slopes of the Turrialba volcano. Founded in 1890 and reshaped by Alfonso Robelo after he fled Nicaragua in the 1980s, the farm sits amid forests, rivers and rich biodiversity. Today it is managed by his son Diego, who spearheaded the estate’s transition into specialty coffee production.

Juanilama offers a fascinating counterpoint to our Centroamericano release from the same estate. Both coffees are the Centroamericano variety, grown at Aquiares and processed using the washed method. Here, however, the estate introduces one unusual variable during fermentation.

Aquiares grows Juanilama, a fragrant herb also known as lemon balm, among the many plants cultivated on the estate. Using its own distillation equipment, the farm produces essential oils from Juanilama and captures the aromatic condensation created during the process. This distillate is then added to the coffee’s fermentation tank, creating a co-fermentation that gently influences the finished cup.

The result is remarkably clean and precise. Rather than the intense or overtly fermented character sometimes associated with co-fermented coffees, Juanilama retains the clarity we associate with washed Costa Rican coffee while introducing a distinctive citrus and herbal dimension. Tasted alongside our traditionally washed Centroamericano, it offers a rare opportunity to explore how a single change in processing can shape the expression of the same variety from the same farm.

Expect a sweet, crisp and balanced cup with notes of sweet apple, caramel, green grape and lemon.