Only seven years ago Joiner was still selling cherries to other micromills in the area. Before that, for many generations the Alvarado family grew different crops like tomatoes, chilli peppers and other vegetables. The profitability wasn’t great though. In 2018, along with his wife and four daughters, he decided to build his own processing facility.

Joiner’s daughters, Michelle, Selena, Hillary and Wendy, played a significant role in this transition. Their passion and enthusiasm for the project inspired the creation of the “Hermanas Alvarado” lot, named in their honor.

Their farm, called Los Cedros, extends over about 40 hectares in a breathtaking area of Rivas, pretty close to Cafe Rivense, our very first relationship in Costa Rica, hence we already knew the great potential behind the coffee from these areas. The name of the finca refers to huge cedar trees growing on the farm and providing shade.

2024 is the first season we bought this beautiful coffee from Joicafe. A naturally processed, when cherries are selectively handpicked and passes through additional quality control before milling, that consists of visual inspection and floating. Fruits are fermented for 30 hours covered by a plastic tarpaulin, and then dried on patios, when mill workers rake them constantly to ensure a consistent process.