Bird Friendly Costa Rica

This coffee is the epitome of a classic Costa Rican cup. It is light-roasted, with a medium body, mild acidity, and date-like sweetness with notes of chocolate chip cookies.

Region: Puntarenas, Costa Rica, Central America

Processing: Fully Washed, Mechanical Dryer

Elevation: 1,220 to 1,524 meters

Producer: Hacienda la Amistad, located in Coto Brus, a canton in the province of Puntarenas, Costa Rica, is owned and operated by Roberto Montero, a third-generation coffee farmer. Roberto's grandfather first came to the area in the early 1900's as part of a team surveying the border between Costa Rica and the newly formed country of Panama. Roberto's grandfather later purchased over 10,000 hectares of land and began to cultivate coffee. Roberto's family has returned more than 6,000 hectares of land to the Costa Rican government for the preservation of La Amistad International Park, the largest natural reserve in Central America.

Only 300 hectares of land are utilized for coffee cultivation, while the remainder of the 4,000 hectare estate is preserved forest teeming with wildlife. Roberto's commitment to organic farming pairs harmoniously with his commitment to his community. During the coffee harvest, Roberto provides housing and free access to medical care for the seasonal pickers because most are indigenous people from Panama who come to La Amistad with their entire families. Roberto also takes pride in providing more than 100 full-time jobs to his neighbors from Las Mellizas, not only in coffee cultivation but also in the dried fruit operation he runs year-round at La Amistad. Roberto hosts an annual employee celebration to recognize their hard work, and he also distributes school supplies to their children each year before the school year starts.

About the Bird: We chose to highlight the Resplendent Quetzal for this coffee because Roberto's family returned land to Costa Rica for La Amistad International Park, which has prime habitat for the quetzal. The Resplendent Quetzal belongs to the trogon family, a group of colorful, fruit-eating birds. During mating season, male Resplendent Quetzals grow elongated upper tail coverts, forming a train of feathers up to three feet long. These long feathers play an important part in the bird's flight display, as the male rises above the canopy, then plunges down to the female, his long, magnificent train of feathers rippling behind him. The Resplendent Quetzal is listed by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) as Near Threatened. The U.S. North American Bird Conservation Initiative (NABCI) also includes the Resplendent Quetzal on its Watch List as a species of high conservation concern. The biggest threat to this spectacular bird is habitat loss resulting from deforestation, forest fragmentation, and agricultural land clearing.

Bird Friendly Mexico

Official Name of Coffee: Presidio Organic SMBC Natural SHG

Certifications: Bird Friendly®

Country of Origin: Mexico

Municipality: Presidio de los Reyes, Ruiz, Nayarit

Community of Origin: Presidio de los Reyes

Coffee Producing Society: Cerro de los Cuernos (CUERNO)

Average Altitude: 820 meters

Terroir: Volcanic soil and shade grown

Varieties: Catuai, Criollo, Caturra

Processing: Natural, 18 Weeks Resting

Dry Mill: CAFESUMEX, El Duende Dry Mill

Producing Organization or Exporter: Grupo Terruño Nayarita (GTNAY)

Roastmaster Paul chose this Bird Friendly for July because he loves a good dark roast. This coffee started as a limited edition in 2025 and quickly became part of our official Bird Friendly line-up.

Learn More: Bird Friendly Mexico

Natural Process Guatemala

This limited edition coffee is natural processed, undergoing an anaerobic fermentation. We roast it to a light-medium that results in a smooth, mellow, medium-bodied cup with a hibiscus sweetness that comes out as it cools.

Region: Santa Rosa. Municipality: Pueblo Nuevo Viñas

Processing: Natural. Hand-picked, anaerobic fermentation for 36 hours, dried on tables for the first 5 days, then transferred to patios.

Elevation: 1,100 to 1,300 masl

Producer: Finca Santa Isabel. In 1899, Federico Keller settled in Pueblo Nuevo Viñas, Santa Rosa, Guatemala, and named the place Finca Santa Isabel in honor of his wife. Alex Keller is now the 4th generation owner/manager of Finca Isabel.

Approximately one-third of their farm is a private nature reserve; all of their crops are grown under the shade in an organic/biodynamic system, and they have a vermiculture program that produces their own preparations and fertilizers. The farm also works with pelibueyes (short-haired sheep) inside the coffee plantation, which help recycle and revive the green coverage. They use their own wet mill, dry mill, and roastery, which allows them to develop different fermentation processes, drying, and carry out excellent quality control. Finca Santa Isabel is certified organic and was officially certified Bird Friendly in 2024 with 733 hectares of Bird Friendly habitat.

In 2023, CCR General Manager Kevin and Roaster Tony visited Finca Santa Isabel and met Alex. While they toured the farm, they were able to see the areas that would later become Bird Friendly certified in 2024.

Featured Artwork: The American Herring Gull.

The most familiar gulls of the North Atlantic, recognized by their quintessential gray-and-white feathers and pink legs. They can be found along coastal shorelines, feeding on beaches, flying above a fishing boat, or squabbling at a dock or parking lot. They are loud, competitive, and opportunistic scavengers, eating marine invertebrates, fish, and insects, and they often follow large predators (including fishing boats) that bring small fish, squid, and zooplankton to the surface. They spend hours bathing, preening, and "loafing" near food sources. Loafing is a term behaviorists use to describe a bird that isn't doing much of anything; many seabirds spend long hours this way. (sounds good to us!)

The American Herring Gull is listed as a "Common Bird in Steep Decline". They are too numerous or widely distributed to warrant watch-list status but have been experiencing troubling long-term declines, with human activities the main threats to local populations.

Fun Fact: "Seagull" is a popular common name used by the public to describe birds within the Laridae (gull) family, but it does not single out a specific species. The accepted biological name used by scientists and bird experts is just "Gull," whether they live close to the ocean or not.