We've featured several distinct lots from our good friends at Aquiares this year, and they've all been delicious. However – there's no other way to say it – this lot is the MOST delicious! Notes of juicy strawberry, sweet-tart raspberry, and floral hibiscus magically mingle to create a fruity, tangy dream. We've only got a small amount of this special lot, so stock up while you can. Costa Rican coffees (and Central American coffees in general) can represent a lot of problematic things about the coffee supply chain. Aquiares is a Costa Rican legacy farm, setting an absolute gold standard in how they treat people and the planet, increasing biodiversity, capturing carbon, and caring for both Costa Rican and migrant workers. Diego Robelo (pictured above) is more like a town mayor than a coffee farmer. We've bought coffee from Aquiares since our first year at Skylark and are delighted to partner with them more fully for the first time in 2025 and for the foreseeable future. We plan to have their coffee on offer year-round as a staple to support the amazing work they do. Aquiares, one of Costa Rica’s largest and most historic coffee farms, sits high on the fertile slopes of Turrialba volcano. Established by British farmers in 1890, it was one of the first estates to produce and export Costa Rican coffee. In 1971, the farm was purchased by its current owners, three families who, with the farm's staff and community, implemented a modern model of sustainable agriculture. Don Alfonso, who took over management in 1992, made social welfare a main priority. In 1992, the farm started a project to enable people to own their own houses. Today, 96% of Aquiares residents own their own home. All Aquiares coffee is picked by hand to ensure consistent high quality by a special team of expert harvesters paid well above the daily rate. Each tree is visited up to seven times during harvest. The pickers hail from the community of Aquiares, nearby towns, and Nicaragua, and are provided a safe work environment, comfortable housing, and access to doctors' visits and physical therapy. Aquiares is strongly committed to environmental sustainability, planting over 50,000 shade trees, creating natural buffers, preserving river valleys, and implementing integrated pest management systems. Soil health is paramount, with organic matter from pruning and leaf litter feeding soil microbes. Diversified shade trees (over 40 species) cool the ground, slowing ripening and improving cup quality. Through an intensive rehabilitation program, Aquiares has re-planted over 400,000 coffee trees, which also helped resist the 2012 rust attack. The farm achieved Rainforest Alliance Certification in 2003 and became the first in Costa Rica to fulfill the Rainforest Alliance Climate Module requirements in 2012, demonstrating low emissions.