This effervescent cup starts with a zing of lime soda which shifts to crisp orange as it cools, the smooth caramel of cola on the finish adds depth to this lively and sparkling cup.
El Manantial – the spring – is the flagship farm of the ARBAR micromill, sitting at 1,600 metres above sea level in Costa Rica's Western Valley, near the town of Lourdes de Naranjo. At around three hectares, it's modest in size but punches well above its weight: the farm produces roughly 8,500 kg of fresh cherries each year, which yields just over 1,000 kg of green coffee after processing. The main varieties here are Caturra and Catuaí, with a small amount of the locally beloved Villa Sarchi, and experimental microlots are in the pipeline for the near future.
The coffee from El Manantial is processed using the white honey method – the lightest expression on Costa Rica's honey spectrum. After depulping, only a minimal layer of mucilage is left on the bean before it heads to the drying beds. It's a deliberate, precise choice. Where red or black honey processing builds richness and jammy fruit character through extended mucilage contact, white honey takes a lighter touch – the result is clean and nuanced, closer in profile to a washed coffee, but with a gentle underlying sweetness and a soft complexity that washed processing alone doesn't quite deliver. It's a method that rewards careful handling at every stage, and the Arrieta family have it dialled in.
Honey processing in Costa Rica wasn't born from curiosity alone – it emerged from necessity. Following a 2008 earthquake that left many producers without reliable water access, the method offered a way to conserve resources without sacrificing quality. Costa Rica ran with it, refining the spectrum from white through to black, and it's now one of the country's defining contributions to specialty coffee. At ARBAR, it's become a genuine expression of the family's approach: considered, precise, and quietly exceptional.
- Country: Costa Rica
- Region: Western Valley
- Area: Lourdes de Naranjo
- Producer: Carlos Arrieta
- Farm: El Manantial
- Micromill: Arbar
- Elevation: 1,600 m.a.s.l.
- Varieties: Villa Sarchi
- Process: Yellow Honey
- FILTER RECIPE
- Suggested method: V60
Dose: 15.5g
Water: 250ml
Time: 3 mins
ESPRESSO RECIPE - Dose: 20g
Yield: 49g
Time: 26 secs
To find the method that suits your kit, check out our Brew Guides.
ARBAR & The Arrieta-Barboza Family
The name says it all, really. ARBAR is a blend of Carlos ARrieta and Maria BARboza – the couple at the heart of this family operation in Lourdes de Naranjo. Carlos has owned the land for nearly twenty years, but it wasn't until 2014 that he began processing his own coffee. Before that, his cherries went straight to a cooperative and he'd never once met a buyer directly. That changed in 2013, when Steve Leighton – then of Hasbean, now Ozone – cupped a sample at the offices of Exclusive Coffees labelled simply "Carlos Arrieta." No farm name, no backstory. Just a really, really delicious cup. That was enough. When Hasbean joined Ozone in 2018, the relationship came with us, and our Green Buyer Roland has been visiting Carlos and the family ever since.
El Manantial is the heart of the operation, but ARBAR spans five farms in total – La Casa, La Isla, El Oasis, and Don Pedro sit alongside it, each with its own microclimate and character. The family home sits right in the middle of El Manantial, with the micromill, nursery, drying beds, and depulping station arranged around it. It's a genuinely integrated setup – everything within arm's reach, quality controlled from cherry to bag. Carlos and Maria's children are all part of the story too: son Nacho has developed a keen interest in cupping and quality control, while Esteban now works for Exclusive Coffees, their exporting partner. Coffee really does run deep in this family – Maria learned to roast as a child, over a fire with her father. The farm operates along mostly organic lines (not certified, but the philosophy is there), with fruit trees intercropped for shade and biodiversity, and sheep, chickens, and goats keeping things self-sufficient. Their neighbours read like a Costa Rican specialty coffee hall of fame – Cup of Excellence-winning mills Herbazu, Vista Al Valle, and Sumava are all just down the road. Good company to keep.