Lilac Dream

The story of Macho & Kevin is one of resurgence. We have had this coffee for many years under different names: first Macho & Gelbert, then Macho Naranjo and now Macho & Kevin. Quick backstory, Macho is the dad, Gelbert is one son, and the original partner in the farm; and Kevin is another son, and the new partner in the farm. Their mill, Santa Rosa 1900 was for many years, my favourite coffee from Costa Rica. It consistently obliterated most other coffees on a cupping table. Then, when Gelbert left, the quality immediately dropped. Kevin came in and had a huge learning curve to keep up with the quality levels that Gelbert achieved in his processing.

Macho has always been in charge of the fields and the trees have always looked amazing. Over the past five years, Kevin has been dialing in the processing and the quality has reached new heights - over the past couple of years the coffee has been amazing. Here’s more on the backstory.

The Santa Rosa region of Tarrazu is brimming with great coffee potential. The farm elevations are high, the weather promotes slow maturation, even drying and most of the farms have young, healthy trees. The tricky part is converting this potential into a consistently good coffee. This is where Gelbert Naranjo and his father Efrain aka “Macho” separated themselves from the pack. 

Many years ago, before they started their own processing, Gelbert knew that the farm had incredible potential, but he couldn’t convince his father to invest in their own mill. So, Gelbert used his savings to purchase all the equipment without Macho’s knowledge and presented it to him, saying, “Here dad, now there is no risk. Let’s do this”. So, in 2011, they processed their own coffee for the first time. 

I first visited Macho & Gelbert in December of 2012, and I left inspired and full of optimism. Gelbert cupped all of his coffee, looking for indications as to what is working at the farm and the mill. He was relentless about improving; a quality that we look hard to find in a producer. Gelbert and I worked together in the first six years of their operation to dry this coffee in the shade, extending the drying time from the typical 7 days to the 20 days.

In 2019, Gelbert decided to leave the farm to pursue other interests. His brother Kevin took over and is now trying to fill his massive shoes and is working alongside his dad.

Gelbert and Macho introduced a great picking system in 2015 – which is a great example of their innovative approach. Most good producers pay a small premium on the nationally imposed minimum wage. They implemented a system where they pay 35% more than minimum wage and they offer a weekly prize to the cherry picker who picks the lots with the least number of defects. This program has greatly improved quality and worker happiness.

This particular lot comes from Finca Macho, the family’s best farm. The coffee rested in cherry form for about 24 hours, then it was fully de-mucilaged and then dried on shaded raised beds for nearly 20 days. The variety is an Ethiopian Heirloom that came from a research farm operated by Catie in Costa Rica. They experimented with many Ethiopian Heirlooms for quality and disease resistance and this particular variety, which they call Ethiopia 47 was always a front runner for quality. When I first tasted this coffee in Costa Rica, it was like taking a taste trip to Costa Rica - floral, tea-like, sweet and peachy.