A family-run coffee farm operated by Alejo Castro Kahle and his father Fernando Castro Jiménez and mother Vivian Kahle. Both sides of the family have worked in the coffee industry in Costa Rica since the 19th century, and they have run the Volcan Azul micro-mill together for 15 years. Here is more detail about their history and their farm, in the family’s own words:

Producer History:”At the end of the 19th century, when coffee production was in its early beginnings in America, without knowing it, two pioneers and entrepreneurs, Alejo C. Jiménez in Costa Rica and Wilhelm Kahle in the south of Mexico, shared the same dream: “To produce the best coffee in the world” to satisfy the new demanding European gourmet market. More than a century has passed, and today the fourth and fifth generations of descendants of these visionary farmers still produce coffee within the same ideals of excellency and top quality that inspired their ancestors.

They produce one of the best pure coffees of the world with its Brand “F.C.J. Volcán Azul” on the slopes of the Poás Volcano in Costa Rica. Today, the production process starts with the planting of the coffee trees on highly fertile volcanic soil above 1500 meters above sea level (SHB). It continues with a meticulous process at the coffee mill and finally ends with the strict preparation of the export quality beans. Currently, the descendants of Don Alejo C. and Don Wilhelm want to further enhance the principles of quality inherited by our founders by adding the value of conservancy of natural resources, through the acquisition of extensions of natural rainforest for its protection and conservation. These facts, are small actions taken by one family to reduce air contamination and global warming.” This is the contribution we want to make to mankind, this is the new awareness we want our future generations to inherit.For our family, the conservation of natural resources is of prime value, which is why we are committed to protecting vast extensions of tropical rainforest in the Costa Rica since the 80’s.” Work as a team the two families have acquired over 1,500 hectares of rainforest for ecological preservation in areas where they grow their coffee as well as in the Osa Peninsula, a region in the South of Costa Rica known for holding 2.5% of the Earth’s Biodiversity.

We are proud to work with environmentally conscious family who is contributing to reducing the effects of global warming. This is the attitude towards the environment that we want to pass on to our children and future generations.