Costa Rican

Grower: Co-Op Tarrazu
Region: Tarrazu
Profile: Tropical Fruits & Brown Sugar
Strength: 2/5
Varietal: Caturra & Catuai
Process: Washed
Aroma: Floral & Citrus
Body: Medium & Rounded
Finish: Lively & Crisp

For over 20 years Vail Mountain Coffee & Tea Co. has happily supported Co-Op Tarrrazu by not only purchasing their incredible coffee but also contributing to their infrastructure and day care centers for the workers and their families. 

CoopeTarrazú was established on October 13, 1960 with 228 associates in San Marcos de Tarrazú. The memoirs say that the economic environment for the coffee grower in the time before CoopeTarrazú was difficult, it was adjusted to a subsistence economy and the sacrifice of the small farmer was not shared by the large landowners. The coffee growers generated a valuable product, but they had neither voice nor vote in its administration and marketing.

It was then that through the National Bank and its Cooperatives Department, the coffee growers were encouraged to buy a benefit in the form of a cooperative, a proposal that some brave men accepted with the economic and administrative support of the National Bank. The capital contributed by these producers was US $5,800, managing to install the mill at a cost of US $37,500 and a processing capacity of 4,000 quintals.

Its beginning was not easy. It was a period of slow and silent progress, but the commitment of the founders was incalculable, in their honesty, responsibility, respect and many other qualities that today are reflected in a cooperative that has been going strong for over 60 years. 

Fair Trade / Rain Forest Alliance.