Within the coffee belt, the Americas region is home to many well-known coffee-producing countries, such as Panama, Honduras, Costa Rica, and Guatemala. Among them, Costa Rica is renowned as the first country in Central America to cultivate coffee and bananas for commercial value.

Nearly 30% of the country's land area is designated as national parks or nature reserves, with a national forest coverage rate of 52.38%. The climate is tropical and subtropical, and the country has over 200 volcanoes. Volcanic ash enriches the soil with abundant minerals, while the mild and suitable temperatures, along with ample rainfall, contribute to its developed agriculture. It is a globally significant exporter of pineapples, bananas, and coffee.

Los Santos: Los Santos is an ancient coffee-growing region located in central Costa Rica, within the province of San José. It includes the administrative areas of the towns of Tarrazú, Dota, and Leon Cortes Castro.

However, because Tarrazú in this region became famous earliest, over time people gradually got used to using “Tarrazú (Tarrazu)” as a broad category for the producing area, and the reputation of Tarrazú has become increasingly prominent. Moreover, in 2019, the Costa Rican government registered the geographical indication “Café de Tarrazú” with the European Union and the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) to protect this one-of-a-kind Tarrazú producing area and its coffee.

As a result, the region is home to many well-known coffee farms, such as Santa Teresa, which won the 2024 Costa Rica COE washed coffee category championship with a score of 92.04.

Santa Teresa Estate

The current owner of Santa Teresa Estate is ROGER UREÑA HIDALGO. ROGER’s family has been primarily engaged in coffee cultivation for generations, so he began learning about coffee farming from a young age. Afterward, he spent some time working in the United States to earn money, then returned to Costa Rica to expand his family’s coffee plantation. Later, he also purchased his own coffee processing mill, which is now managed by his son, Alex Ureña.

Finca Santa Teresa is located in the Central Mountain Range at an elevation between 1,900 and 2,050 meters, currently cultivating many varieties such as Geisha, Rume Sudan, Pacamara, and San Roque, among others.

In fact, as early as 2022, Finca Santa Teresa began participating in the COE competition, achieving 8th place at that time, followed by 9th place in 2023, and this year it even won the championship in the washed category.

In addition, the estate has been in the process of obtaining certification under the Blue Flag Costa Rica program, which sets standards to evaluate and certify communities, schools, and businesses based on waste management, water conservation, energy efficiency, and the promotion of environmental education. It can be said that the estate places great emphasis on environmental protection, which is why it has achieved outstanding results in the COE competition multiple times.