About Finca Santa Rita

Carmen Maria has been in a coffee farm for as long as she could remember. Today, Santa Rita farm is a product of three generations of work and family. Carmen Maria’s grandmother started cultivating coffee in 1924. The farm had humble beginnings with it’s grandparents who were the first generation, but actually Santa Rita farm consists of 45 manzanas and produces 110 quintales of coffee. The origin of the name Santa Rita came from being known for being a conqueror of the impossible. People would say Carmen Maria’s grandmother was a crazy woman who farmed on ground covered in lava.

Santa Rita farm is located between 900-1300 meters to the West of Chaparrastique in San Miguel. Due to the volcano, the farm has rich soil. This farm produces mainly varieties of bourbon and pacas. The coffee is characterized by a delicate and fine taste, medium body and chocolatey, with a smooth citrus acidity and notes of sweet raw cane sugar achieves the perfect balance. One point of pride for Santa Rita farm is the biodiversity of the land. Coffee is grown under the shade of many timber trees such as Laurel, Cedar and White Cortez as well as shade like Pepeto. Before sunrise, one can hear birds singing while there is hope that the sun will come out from the volcano. Santa Rita is a farm that is also a nature preserve.

However it has not always been very easy to maintain a healthy environment. In 2012, the rust crisis caused the harvest to lower to 2,500 qq gold and 400-600 quintales. In 2015, 35 manzanas were burned which to this day have not been revived. Later, in 2016, there was a volcanic eruption and the crop harvested was basically nothing. The last six years reflect the resilience and determination of everyone in Santa Rita farm.

In 2019, they began the reseeding of 2,500 plants at different altitudes and of three varieties-- Bourbon, Marrsellesa and Pacamara. In 2020, given the great quality of cups coming from Café Santa Rita, they are working on a better process in roasting the coffee, thus managing to commercialize it nationally at a better price.