Smooth Operator

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 four 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. 

Twelve years ago, before the father and son duo started their own processing, Gelbert knew that the farm had incredible potential, but he couldn’t convince his father to invest in mounting their own mill. So, Gelbert used his own savings to purchase all of the processing 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, Macho and Gelbert 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 cups all of his coffee, looking for indications as to what is working at the farm and the mill. He is relentless about improving; a quality that we look hard to find in a producer. 

In 2019, much to my disappointment and sadness, 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 resulted in a great improvement in overall coffee quality and job satisfaction among the pickers. 

This coffee is from one of their family farms called La Obediencia and it impressed me with its balance, sweetness and overall easy drinking nature.

The first year that Kevin took over for Gelbert, I felt the quality dip a bit. After all, Gelbert had a huge impact on their execution of quality. The past two years, though, were a massive surprise to me. I felt the quality at Santa Rosa was the best it has been in recent times. Kevin has been tightening the protocols, both at the farm and at the mill, and was extremely happy to hear I’m enjoying the coffee so much. It’s always a nice happy ending when a farmer makes an effort, and that effort is reflected in the cup. I savour this moment because it doesn’t always work out that way!