TheEl Jardínfarm, located in the Ochos de Agua community of the Concepción de Soluteca municipality, was founded back in 1981. It is managed by a fourth-generation young farmer—24-year-old Mario Samuel Mejía Rodríguez. He oversees 32 hectares of land situated at 1,650 meters above sea level, with around 100,000 coffee trees planted. Mario has experience cultivating Caturra, Catuai, Pacas, IHCAFE90, Pacamara, as well as several rare exotic varieties that we’ll have the opportunity to discover soon.

At just 24 years old, Mario Mejía took over the management of the farm, launched a specialty coffee program, and earned a degree in agronomy. Today, he is a leader introducing local producers to the concept of specialty coffee and educating them about the benefits of a quality-focused approach. Two years ago, Mario also built a washing station and began offering processing services to neighboring farmers.

The Pacas cherries were handpicked and sorted manually. Defects were removed using the floater method (when cherries are submerged in water and the floating ones are discarded), and fermentation took place in sealed barrels without oxygen. This approach gave the coffee a bright and sweet profile with a gentle hint of spice.