A LOTTA OBATA

We're so grateful yet again to be working with Farmers Project Costa Rica! Our 6 year relationship and counting! It is a 5 farmer collective that truly helps on another get the job done. This coffee named Obatá comes from Finca Zalmari.  THANK YOU to Cecí Genis for continuing the legacy of your mother Marigold!
 
We had the honor of exchanging our coffee journey's on the phone with Ceci Genis as we drove up a mountain of the Bay Area dreaming we were really moving up the micro region, Cachí, Orosí Valley where this coffee comes from.  Ceci is holding it down on this 4th generation farm that was launched in 1914 by Ceci's great grandfather Cecil Lindo.  He journeyed from London to Jamaica and then ended up in Costa Rica to work the railway.  He slowly was able to buy the farm after working so hard on the railroad.  The family legacy began as he passed down the farm to his children.  Ceci's grandparents had 4 children and the farm was split into 4.  Ceci's mom Marigold was one of the children who decided to continue farming her piece of land that sat in front of the lake.  Next thing you know they set up a restaurant in the coffee field and a hotel that is absolutely beautiful!  If you make it out to Costa Rica you have to go to La Casona de Cafetal.  Zalmari Coffee Estate is in a beautiful area of the Cachí Valley that is nestled between volcanic mountain ranges with water sheds of fresh, crystal clear water.  So, you will probably extend your stay:). http://lacasonadelcafetal.com/es
 
Zalmari has farm production methods combined with environmentally friendly practices to produce delicious coffee in harmony with nature.  On top of harmony they wanted to pursue quality and not quantity so they started their own micro-mill in 1997.  The milling is done with reduced amounts of water which goes to the settling ponds after the process is completed. Coffee is then dried on African Beds. This coffee is considered CARBON FOOTPRINT FRIENDLY.  This means the farm and micromill have successfully completed the required carbon footprint mitigation actions established by the first agricultural NAMA in the world  {National Appropriate Mitigation Actions}.   They are reducing the use of fertilizers, using water and energy in the coffee processing more efficiently, promoting mechanisms to support new agroforestry systems in coffee, and undertaking audits to determine their carbon footprint.
 
More info: https://www.namacafe.org/en/costa-rican-coffee-nama
 
Marigold was the visionary behind starting this process at Zalmari.  She and Ceci became founding members of the IWCA Chapter in Costa Rica in 2000 and members of the Farmers Project a few years ago.  Farmers Project was started by coffee farmers Jonathan and Marianella Baez Jost of Cafe Con Amor.  It is all about local coffee farmers in Costa Rica helping each other to support their workers, families, and their farms.  They live by the acronym T.E.A.M. Together Everyone Achieves More.  They have the same vision of farmers learning from one another by sharing supplies, knowledge, and they export their coffees together.   It's a Dream TEAM!
 
https://www.farmersproject-cr.com/
 
This coffee is also WOMEN CARE CERTIFIED.  WCC was created to stengthen sound policies and enforceable legislation for equality and to integrate women into the supply value chain.  They are a force for change that aims to uplift women's efforts with sustainable practices that yield more from production and increase revenue.  It can actually be applied to any product because it was developed to create worldwide awareness for a healthier planet and promote the empowerment of women in a system that guarantees equal opportunities at all levels of decision making.  Let's just say they are doing thangs! 
 
Thank you Marigold and Ceci, Farm Manager Jonathan Berrocal, Farm Administrators Cinthya Solano and Melania Coto, Mill Manager Edmundo Astorga, all the workers and pickers, and Marianella Baez Jost for introducing us to the Zalmari Estate Family! 
 
COUNTRY Cachi, Orosi Valley, Costa Rica
VARITIES Obata
PROCESS Honey
TASTING NOTES Cherry, Cacao, Caramel, Brittle, Cola, Pomegranate, & Apple.