Costa Rica Hacienda La Amistad Organic Honey SHB EP 2025

Hacienda La Amistad

Hacienda La Amistad is a third-generation, family-run estate located in the highlands of Coto Brus Puntarenas in Southwest Costa Rica. In the 1980s, the farm transitioned to an ecologically focused model of agriculture, emphasizing restoration, conservation, and harmony with the surrounding forests. Today, the estate produces a variety of organic crops - including organic coffee - and supports ecotourism initiatives.

Hacienda La Amistad is now recognized as one of the largest organic coffee-producing farms in Central America, offering washed, honey, and natural process coffees.

Organic Green Coffee Beans

All coffee from Hacienda La Amistad is certified organic, grown in harmony with the native ecosystem. The farm’s commitment to sustainability and biodiversity is reflected in its cultivation practices, which avoid synthetic inputs and promote soil health and wildlife conservation.

Honey Process

The Honey Process at Hacienda La Amistad allows coffees to impart the fruitiness and sweetness that the Coto Brus region’s terroir has become known for. This method involves removing the skin of the coffee cherry but leaving some of the mucilage (the sticky layer, which is also known as coffee honey) intact during drying. This method contributes to the coffee’s fruit sweetness.

Costa Rican Coffee Grading System

Costa Rican coffee is graded based on altitude and sorting. Strictly Hard Bean (SHB): indicates coffee grown at altitudes greater than 1,200 meters above sea level. The high altitude generally allows the coffee-fruit sugars and flavors more time to mature before harvesting. The resulting beans are also generally denser than coffees grown at lower altitudes.

European Preparation (EP) refers to meticulous sorting and cleaning, ensuring beans are free from defects and foreign matter.

Costa Rican Coffee History

Costa Rica has developed a reputation both for high quality coffee and for innovation – a winning combination. These factors along with Costa Rica’s quality socio-economic infrastructure programs such as universal healthcare, high education levels, sophisticated agronomy and research, and well-regulated agricultural sustainability programs certainly contribute to the high cost of its coffee. Additionally, Costa Rican producers receive nearly 80% of the FOB value of the coffee, guaranteed. Read more in our Costa Rica Green Coffee Origin Report.