Altitude: 1600masl

SCA Score: 87

Operated by Steven Vargas, Don Sabino Micromill is a recent addition to the Vargas family's coffee business in the West Valley region of Costa Rica. The family's history in coffee began with Steven's great-grandfather, Recadero Vargas, who was one of the pioneers of coffee production in Poas, Alajuela. The legacy continued to Steven's grandfather, Don Sabino Vargas Sibaja, and his father, Gilbert Vargas, making Steven part of the fourth generation of his family to work in coffee production.

Steven joined the family business in 2010 when he, his father, and his brother decided to produce specialty coffees. With Steven's father responsible for taking care of the farms as he had for many years, Steven could focus on implementing changes and new plans and finding new markets for their coffees. From this decision to produce specialty coffee, Steven and his father founded a family micro mill in 2011 named Don Sabino after Steven's grandfather.

Don Sabino Micromill is located at the foot of the Poas Volcano in Sabanilla, Alajuela. Since its inception, the mill has grown to be a shining example of scalable quality, growing from a small number of microdots to a full-fledged family business that produces, processes, and sells coffee worldwide.

Since joining the family coffee business, Steven's vision has always been acquiring more land for coffee cultivation. This vision has been with the intention of scaling the volume produced by the family and diversifying the coffee varieties cultivated. Today, Steven owns approximately 50 hectares of land planted with an extensive collection of varieties, including Caturra, Catuai, Gesha, Obata, Villa Sarchi, SL-28, and many others.

Steven's farms have a unique landscape, which contributes to the final cup characteristics of his coffee. All his farms, including Orvo, are under the Poas Volcano and benefit from the nutrient-rich volcanic soil. The topography of the coffee fields doesn't include steep slopes, which makes organizing the land and separating the coffee varieties easily manageable. The microclimate brings sunny mornings followed by cool and misty afternoons, creating an environment where coffee thrives.

This lot of Villa Sarchi coffee underwent Natural processing at Don Sabino Micromill. All coffees processed at Don Sabino receive natural or honey processing, conserving the water that would otherwise be used for Wash processing.

Natural coffees from Don Sabino Micromill are fully sun-dried on raised beds. The beds are made of black zaran material, encouraging airflow around the cherries during drying. Cherries enjoy sunlight throughout the day and are covered with plastic overnight to prevent moisture from building up on the coffees. Cherries are dried for 2–3 weeks to reach their ideal humidity before being stored in the mill's warehouse for 1–2 months to rest. After resting, each microlot is sorted for screen size, colour, and density before being packaged for shipment.