About the coffee

Despite its size, Costa Rica has a diversity of climates that has led to a rich and varied coffee industry. Los Cipreses consists of two farms and a mill located in the West Valley. This region is influenced by Pacific weather patterns and is consequently drier than the Central Valley, producing a unique coffee profile. Max Salazar runs both farms - San Cristobal (10ha) and La Isabella (13ha) named after his parents, alongside his two cousins and his uncle Danilo. The business is named after the cypresses grown on a partnered farm that are sold as Christmas trees in December.

Initially, the farms were mainly planted with Typica and Villa Sarchi varieties, but the family have bought more land and have planted Villalobos, Catuai, Caturra, Geisha, Ethiopian varieties, Millennium and SL28. They are also setting up new varieties, including L12-28 which is yielding good results. These have to stay in the coffee plant nursery, essentially a greenhouse for young coffee plants, for a year before being planted on the farms. This ensures they grow strong enough to survive on the farm. Before 2019, Max and his family used to deliver their cherries to a neighbouring mill. In 2020 they decided to build their own processing mill and the nursery

Despite the presence of crop disease and pests, Max doesn’t want to spray trees with chemicals, preferring to fight coffee rust with more natural methods, including a good fertilisation plan and resistant varieties. He doesn’t use herbicides, and weeds are controlled with mulching.

The family also has cattle in San Carlos (50 animals) and they share their time between the two production sites, but Max prefers the coffee and dedicates most of his time to it. He is involved in the specialty and barista scene in San José, and has developed many ideas to innovate processes and improve quality at the mill. He is looking for stable and durable relationships with a few clients rather than selling his coffee more widely.