Tarrazu Coffee Guide

ICAFE

Tarrazu Coffee Association

Costa Rica History and its gourmet coffee

FARM FOR SALE BY OWNER WRITE TO JORGE LUIS AT: INFO@ALTOQUEPOS.COM Size: 50 hectares = 123 acres Price:US$ 250 000

Alto Quepos farm for sale. This beautiful large estate is situated right half way between Manuel Antonio National Park in Quepos and San Marcos de Tarrazu in the highlands. The La Managua Airport is just 1/2 hour ,45 minutes drive from this pristine property. This amazing property features the most spectacular views of the Quepos Plains and green hills of Tarrazu Quepos highlands and its surroundings. Water, telephone & electricity lines and other amenities very accessible. The property is surrounded by beautiful trees and rolling hills and is located just 45 minutes from the Costanera Highway which connects all the Costa Rican beachfront in the Pacific coast which is in fast development which makes this property an excellent investment. Neighboring properties can be included also in a posible deal which can increase acreage to 246 acres in total. This makes a perfect investment for a mountain lodge wich is at driving distance to the ocean. For More Information click here to send an email to Jorge.. More information online at the official Alto Quepos Costa Rica website

Contact Us Land checklist: ============== Location: click here for map and pics. Forest grassland area located at 3500- 4000feet above sea level average, gravel roads in good condition (4x4 cars year round ), place close to Quepos airport ( 1/2 hour - 45 minutes ) with a great feel of remoteness ( 2 hours from San Jose, 3 hours from Santamaria airport, 1 hour from Quepos beaches, 10 minutes from Napoles village, 15 minutes from Naranjillo Village, 20 minutes from Santa Juana village and Canopy Safari, 30 minutes from San Marcos de Tarrazu which has all health services, coffee tours, Local Wal-mart affiliated supermarket.) Attractions: waterfalls, Green mountains, cloud forests, monkeys other small mammals, lots of wild birds), views in detail here --> greenery at its utmost. Climate: Elevation: 3500 - 4000 feet ( 1100 meter to 1200 meters above sea level ), temperatures year round: 20 degrees Celsius = 68 degrees Fahrenheit wind conditions: smooth breeze year round., sunshine/cloudness 60 % /40%, normal rain cloud forest precipitations; REALLY HEALTHY WEATHER, NO DENGUE NOR MALARIA mosquitoes. LOW RISK of earthquakes, NO RISK FROM flooding, NO RISK OF mudslides. Utilities: power grid nearby, potable water from nearby springs, easy to build acueduct with potential pressure, phone line not available but have access to cellular signal, satellite TV, Internet availability via cell service. Surroundings: hilly terrain, excellent views of the Quepos plains and blue mountains, neighbors are coffee farmers or cattle ranchers, villages and surroundings are attracting more and more foreigners as the area is being discovered. Safety: Very private place, nearest neighbor lives 15 minutes away. Crime rate ZERO since this area in the central costa rica mountains is the safest place in Central America, NO RISK FROM squatters, NO health issues, NO FEAR FROM Dengue outbreaks or Malaria. FARMS/lots: ALL titled WITH PLANOS SINCE EARLY 1990'S , road access VIA 4X4 VEHICLES., road maintenance provided by local municipality, hilly terrain, smoth slopes combined, grasslands knolls, plantels ready for construction, the best greenery in Costa Rica, jungle wildlife, pasture for cows, coffee trees, fertile soil, 2 nearby creeks and springs and plenty of well drilling options; Building: no zoning, Although Forest cannot be cut down due to limitations because of area protection, the grasslands are ready for any development!. NO local/gated communities rules, CONSTRUCTION CAN BEGIN INMEDIATELY; NO RISK OF potential urbanization of the place by neighbors. PLENTY OF CHANCES TO SELL SMALL PARCELS TO FRIENDS/ FAMILY/CUSTOMERS. ONE SAFE ENTRANCE TO THE WHOLE PROPERTY. Construction: Plenty of workforce availability with experience and quality; $ per sq.ft. depending on your construction plans. Others: Enough space to keep horses and cows, build cabins, swimming pools etc.

Central America´s Beacon of Hope. 

In a context of revolutionary Violence, Costa Rica is a model democracy where issues are decided by ballots instead of bullets 

By David Reed (Reader´s Digest, 1981)

Around dawn each morning, the railroad station in Puerto Limón, a steaming tropical town on Costa Rica´s Caribbean Coast, suddenly springs to life. Passengers pile into wooden coaches. A whistle shrieks.  Soon the little train is climbing into the cordillera, the backbone of Central America. At 5000 feet of altitude, it tops the continental divide. Then the train descends into the central plateau and rolls into San José, the 3700 foot-high capital of a remarkable country.

Costa Rica is almost too good to be true. Unlike many other Latin American republics, it has no appalling social problems, no military dictator.  Instead, it is an oasis of democracy.  With two brief exceptions, Costa Rica has been a flourishing democracy for nearly a century...One looks in vain for that standard feature of many Latin American republics--the swaggering soldier with a submachine gun.  Costa Rica, however, abolished its army more than 30 years ago. Charasteristically, the national anthem has the memorable refrain: ¨Vivan siempre el trabajo y la Paz!--¨Long live work and peace.

ROOTS OF DEMOCRACY. Through it all, Costa Rica remains a place where issues are resolved by ballots instead of bullets.  When visitors to other parts of Central America ask people what sort of government they would like to see in their countries, the answer is usually: ¨Just like Costa Rica¨.  U.S. Officials similarly regard this tiny country (About the size of West Virginia ) as a beacon of hope.

Why is democracy so strongly rooted in Costa Rica?  From the start, the country was different from other Spanish colonies in the New World.   When Christopher Columbus landed on its Caribbean coast in 1502, he saw Indians wearing golden trinkets.  Thinking that there were vast riches in the interior, the Spanish named the place Costa Rica, the Rich Coast.  But the name proved to be ironic, for the country has little gold or minerals of consequence.   Nor was there a large population of Indians to exploit.  As a result, Costa Rica was largely ignored by the early Spanish empire builders.

Instead, the colony attracted hardy farmers from Spain.  By boat and oxcart they journeyed through tropical rain forests and mountains to reach the fertile central Plateau, where they carved small farms from the wilderness.  While the Spanish colonial governors elsewhere lived in splendor, one governor in Costa Rica was forced to till his own vegetable patch to keep from starving.  To this day, Costa Ricans have a strong sense of self-reliance, a feeling  that everyone is equal.  Even in colonial times, public issues were resolved at town meetings in which everyone had a say.

Most importantly, Costa Rica was spared the curse of large-scale land ownership and the system of peonage that breed revolutionary unrest.  In contrast with other Latin American countries, where one finds vast haciendas worked by impoverished peasants, Costa Rica remains a nation of farmers who till their own fields and live in trim stucco houses along a network of first-class paved roads.  Wealth is far more evenly distributed than in the rest of Latin America.  The result is a society with a strong middle class, the indispensable ingredient of democracy.

After Costa Rica became independent from Spain in 1821, a school principal was elected president.  By 1889, when most of the world languished under authoritarian rule and public ignorance, the government had introduced free elections and free primary education for all.  As one later president declared: ¨Liberty without education is an illusion.¨ Over the years, education proved to be as important as the pattern of small landholdings in guaranteeing the success of the nation´s democracy.

LEADERS AND CITIZENS.  As part of their frontier heritage, Costa Ricans have a strong work ethic and are much in demand for managerial positions in other Latin American countries.  But they remain staunch individualists.  Says a factory owner, ¨If you have an assembly line and a man comes in late, you don´t shout at him.  He´d quit on the spot.  You put your arm around him and say, ´Well, Juan, what happened?´¨

Costa Rica has also been blessed with good leaders and citizens who, though pacifist by nature, are ready to defend their liberty.  Costa Rica is the only country in Latin America that has abolished its army.  One reason this constitutional provision was made, in 1949, was to prevent future military takeovers.  Another was that Costa Ricans feel that money can be better spend on education and health programs.  Costa Rica devotes 32 percent of its national budget to education, 33 percent to health problems.  The country´s 7000 policemen, who handle  internal security--and who, in theory, would repel invaders--get just 2,6 percent of the budget.

NO HARD FEELINGS.  The frontier spirit of equality remains as strong as ever.  Costa Rica does not feel that it should pamper its presidents by providing them with official residences. Presidents live in their own houses and, when they stroll about San José, attract no special attention.  Indeed, one president was run over by a bicycle while walking to work.

Costa Rican presidents are accessible.  Citizens with grievances take the matter directly to el presidente-- and are ushered into his office.  To keep presidents from becoming too powerful, a constitutional amendment now limits them to one four-year term.

Few people take democratic processes as seriously as do the Costa Ricans.  Six months before election day, an electoral tribunal appointed by congress assumes full command of the national police; not even the president can countermand the tribunal´s orders.  As election day nears, a fiesta mood comes over the country.  Party flags appear on cars and homes.  Parades fill the streets.  Ballots are cast by more than 80 percent of the eligible voters.  Despite campaign passions, a sense of decency prevails once the votes are counted.  Remarks one Costa Rican, ¨We say, ´It´s over.  No hard feelings. Let´s have a drink.´¨

In recognition of Costa Rica´s achievements, the General Assembly of the United Nations has approved a plan for a University of Peace in San José.  the Assembly felt that no country could provide a more appropriate home for the University.  The institution is to have and international faculty and student body, with programs related to promoting world peace.   Costa Ricans hope that San José will eventually become another Geneva, a New World seat for meetings where nations will work out peaceful solutions to their quarrels.

Costa Rica´s scrupulous respect for the rights of its citizens has resulted in another honor.  In  San Jose an Inter-American Court of Human Rights, sponsored by the Organization of American States, hears complaints of human-rights violations by OAS member states.  The hope is that the court will play a major role in curbing abuses that ahve been widespread in many countries in the hemisphere.

Costa Rica has come a long way since the early conquistadores wrote the Rich Coast off as not worth the bother.  Today it serves as a golden inspiration to all freedom-loving people...

Back to History of Costa Rica coffee page

"Jorge Luis Umana, the owner of coffee grower Beneficio Don Evelio,...has set up a company site, www.tarrazucafe.com. So far he's the only grower to do so.." ADAM PIORE, LAUREN WOLLKOFF Newsweek Magazine Journalists, January 29, 2001 issue.

"Tarrazu coffee growers, who produce some of the world's finest, high-elevation beans...now promote their high-quality crop on the Internet at www.tarrazucafe.com" CHRISTINE PRATT, The Tico Times,Aug 18th, 2000

Interview to one of our Costa Rica coffee farmers at Specialty Coffee Retailer Magazine