10,000 Rivers | Espresso Subscription

Jardin de Aromas looks just as the name sounds, a garden of aromas, heavily populated with coffee shrubs of course, but with bougainvillea-lined pathways throughout. Jardin is truly one of the most beautiful of the larger farms I\'ve visited in terms of the grounds, as well as the organization on the part of owner/operator Carol Binden. The farm is broken into several plots, the names coinciding with the surrounding flora: quizarra, aguacate, and in this case, "Lote Papaya", of which there are several papaya trees on this lot. The rows of neatly planted shrubs are pruned in 5-year cycles, with a complete replant after 4 cycles. The latter is also apparent as Carol explains her lot numbering system, numbers assigned to each day lot from each individual plot that follows the coffee from the day is picked, to when it is finally bagged and stored in her storage facility. The farm sits on the low part of the slopes of Barva Volcano in Costa Rica\'s West Valley, affording nutrient rich soil from age-old mineral deposits from ancient volcanic eruptions. The coffee has some silverskin intact, which makes for a darker shade when roasting, giving the impression that the roast is farther along than it actually is. Given that the localities where we are buying coffee are little more than extended family groups, we have found if we involve a brother or sister, they will tell all their coffee-farming kin and soon we have a network of farmers interested in our project.