HISTORY
The name Aguilera is one of the first to come up if you're looking for specialty coffee in Costa Rica. Not only were they part of the pioneering group of micro-mills across the country, but their high-quality batches have been praised by world-renowned roasters, retailers, and baristas for years.
There's really no secret recipe for their success, other than family tradition, hard work, and an unwavering passion for what they do and for the quality they manage to improve with each harvest.
Like many Costa Rican families, especially in this area, his grandparents were involved in coffee production and played a part in the country's development as a producer of quality coffee. Over time, the family was able to acquire some land at the base of the mountains surrounding their town of Los Robles, at about 1,300–1,500 meters above sea level. At that time, it was considered absurd to plant coffee in that area, as the climate was too cold and extreme for a coffee plantation to thrive. However, Edgar, the father, had the vision of growing coffee on that land with a recently discovered variety called Villa Sarchí, native to the nearby town of Sarchí, which was beginning to become very popular in the area, as it grew quickly, produced high yields, and offered good cup quality.
So, about 80 years ago, Edgar planted the farm that is now known as the Tono de los Aguilera lot. It took at least five years for this coffee to survive the extreme climate, grow, and produce fruit, but today, with climate change, this farm has thrived and produced some of the best micro-lots Costa Rica has ever seen. Edgar started his own family of 12 children, and all were destined to help out on the farm, as was customary in that time and place. The brothers and sisters grew up on the farm, created a life together, and have managed the farm to what it is today.
Angelina Gonzales Cubero is the mother of the 12 children who make up the Aguilera family, renowned for its coffee production in Costa Rica. She is the wife of Edgar Aguilera, who, along with his family, founded the tradition of coffee cultivation and processing that has been so successful in the Los Robles region of Costa Rica's Western Valley.
Although she isn't often mentioned in family accounts, her role as the mother of a large family and her influence on the Aguilera legacy are fundamental. The family has made a significant impact on the Costa Rican coffee industry, and Angelina, as the mother of the siblings who manage the farm, is a central figure in the family context.
As was typical in coffee production in Costa Rica until about 10-20 years ago, the family always delivered their berries to the large wet mills in the area and were happy with that model. Mills and cooperatives like CoopeNaranjo, La Eva, and La Meseta bought the Aguileras' coffee berries and blended them into regional lots for commercial export. Until Grace Mena, one of the catalysts of the micro-mill revolution in Costa Rica, started her own wet mill nearby and began purchasing coffee from the Aguileras. At some point, Grace's mill reached capacity, and she noticed her customers were increasingly asking for micro-lots, so she began encouraging producers to build their own micro-mills so they could purchase the processed coffee as micro-lots for their customers.
In 2006, the Aguilera family joined forces and began processing a small amount of their harvest. They started with the washed process, three years later they began producing honey-processed coffee, and a couple of years after that, they were drying natural-process coffee for their enthusiastic partners. As time passed, the Villa Sarchí that their father had planted and admired began to age, the climate had changed, and coffee leaf rust began to affect the trees. The brothers and sisters had the intuition and support to begin planting new varieties that would improve the cup and withstand the environment for many more years. So they began planting San Roque, which they obtained from a neighboring farm, Hacienda La Luisa; Geisha-M2, which they received from Hacienda Alsalcia from Starbucks; and F1, provided by iCafe of Costa Rica.
Today, the 12 Aguilera brothers and sisters remain involved in coffee production and have significantly expanded the farm since their father, Edgar, and grandparents began the family tradition. What was once barren land is now covered by thriving coffee plantations, and the Aguileras have managed to cultivate diverse coffee varieties focused on quality and sustainability. Their wet mill sets a high standard and is an example of an organized, well-managed operation capable of producing expertly processed coffees. They continue to promote quality and harmony with the surrounding nature, and regularly participate in competitions such as theCup of Excellenceto remain active in the pursuit of excellence.
Lot Description
The lot, called Licho, is named after a neighbor and friend of the Aguilera family, from whom they purchased the farm about a decade ago. Although the plantation had been well cared for by Licho, the current plants had become very old and fragile. The Aguileras took control of the farm and replaced the old plantation with Villa Sarchi and San Roque. This lot is located between other farms the family manages, as well as other neighboring farms, in the hills of Naranjo, one of the best coffee-producing areas in Costa Rica.
Legend has it that prolific grower Tono Barrantes, of Molino Herbazú in the same region, brought back a seed from a trip to Africa. He reproduced it and selected the seeds of what was believed at the time to be SL-28. As the material began to be well received and distributed in Costa Rica, it likely underwent a natural mutation and became what is now known as San Roque, or sometimes referred to as SL28 or Kenia. It is a very large and hardy shrub that produces large, knobby cherries, distributed widely along the branches.
