Finca Volcán Azul, run by sixth-generation farmer Alejo Castro Kahle, is one of the most celebrated and awarded coffee farms in Costa Rica.
Volcán Azul is located on the slopes of the Poás Volcano. The coffee production starts with the planting of the coffee trees on highly fertile volcanic soil above 1500MASL (SHB).
Early 19th Century
In the middle of the 19th century, when coffee production was in its infancy in America, without knowing it, two pioneering entrepreneurs, Alejo C. Jiménez in Costa Rica and Wilhelm Kahle in the south of Mexico, shared the same dream: “To produce the best coffee in the world” to satisfy the new demanding European gourmet market.
More than a century has passed and today the fourth and fifth generations of descendants of these visionary farmers still produce coffee within the same ideals of excellency and top quality that inspired their ancestors. Today, Alejo carries his ancestors' vision and passion for producing the very best coffee in the country.
Philosophy & Conservation
Alejo's passion and drive for quality led him to explore adapting prestigious varietials and both updating and adopting experimental production methods. Having both wet and dry mill allows him to control each stage of production including, growing, picking, processing, milling, and drying.
The Castro family haven’t stopped there. They have committed to protecting vast extension of tropical rainforest in Costa Rica since the ’80s. They have acquired over 1,500 hectares of rainforest specifically for ecological preservation in areas where they grow coffee. Their farming practices and methodology focus on reducing the farm's impact on global warming.
And it is this environmental philosophy that they want to pass on to their future generations.
About the H10 Hybrid
The H10 Hybrid (also known as Milenio) is a cross between the coffee rust-resistant Sarchimor T5296 and the high-quality Sudan Rume varieties. H10 is high-yielding and quick to mature, with the first harvest in just two years. The variety was part of the first wave of F1 hybrid varieties created by a consortium including French research institute CIRAD, a regional network of national coffee institutes in Central America (PROMECAFE), and CATIE.
Honey processed the cup delivers notes of red apple, nougat, chocolate biscuit.
