Costa Rica - El Encino - La Bandera - Yellow catuai - Natural

After completing his studies, producer Juan Hidalgo moved to the United States for 14 years. After getting married, he decided to invest, with his wife and brother, a large part of his savings to buy the farm in Aguas Buenas, where this micro-lot is produced.

Yellow Catuai is a very popular variety in the region. Juan Hidalgo likes it for its higher brix than the red catuai (the higher the brix, the more sugar), and also because it's very productive.

During the harvest months, 25 pickers make 3 passes to pick all the ripe coffee. At the end of the harvest, the coffee is taken to the La Bandera station, where it ferments for 12 hours, before being placed on raised beds. It spends between 35 and 40 days there, drying evenly according to the weather.

After completing his studies, Diego Hidalgo Umana lived in the USA for more than 14 years. Together with his wife and children, they then decided to invest a large part of their savings to buy Beneficio Bandera.
The farm covers more than 100,000 square metres and has a wide variety of micro-lots and varieties, including Encino.
This farm has the distinction of being located in a place where the wind blows from the Cerro de la Muerte, which is one of the highest hills in Costa Rica. This wind flow produces microclimates that are beneficial to coffee production. On the farm there are also protected areas with water sources, which help to provide water for all the farmers during the summer, hence the great importance of keeping these areas protected from logging and any type of pollution.

We met Diego Hidalgo, owner of La Bandera, in Dota, in the Tarrazú region of Costa Rica. In 2022 we bought his anaerobic and his nature for the first time. This year we bought 3 more plots to increase our offer.