Gabelo Vargas's family coffee farm is aptly named Camino al Cielo (Road to Heaven) because of its high altitude and striking views. Nelson met Gabelo during his participation as an International Judge in the Costa Rica 2009 Cup of Excellence® competition. He has been growing coffee for the past 32 years, and is a founding member of the CoopeAtenas R. L. cooperative. Gabelo is 50 years old, the seventh of nine brothers. He has five children, all of whom help with coffee farm activities during vacations and school holidays. His Road to Heaven farm has 14 acres and in addition to coffee grows bananas and citrus trees. The annual farm production is, on average, 200 quintales (100-lbs bags).

Nelson also visited the micro Mill that processes Gabelo's coffee, CoopeAtenas. Nelson was impressed with the quality of the coffee and the cleanliness and professionalism of the Cooperative. The Cooperative is located in the beautiful town of Atenas (where locals claim the best coffee in the world is grown!) and not only runs a very efficient mill, but also has a supermarket and a hardware store for the benefit of the Coop members.

This is our first purchase from Gabelo Vargas. We are developing a long-term relationship based on superior coffee beans, transparency and above-market prices for higher-scoring coffee. We plan to visit (and do business with) CoopeAtenas and Gabelo's farm for years to come. As part of such a program, Nelson visited Gabelo at his farm in May of 2010 and purchased new coffee from the upcoming crop.

This lot obtained 20th place on the 2009 Costa Rica COE National Winners Competition, with a cupping score of 86 points. We bought the whole lot besting several other international buyers.

Cupping Comments: Berry fruit, sweet with citrus, chocolate & caramel tones. Nice body. Creamy aftertaste. Classical Costa Rican profile.