Costa Rica: Pura Vida Sunrise to Sunset

If you visit Costa Rica, you’ll see and hear the expression “Pura Vida” everywhere. It can be translated in a few ways; literally, it means “pure life.” But the expression also conveys “full of life,” which feels most appropriate when talking about Costa Rica. From its warm beaches to its towering mountains, Costa Rica is certainly full of life, and its people are no exception. Pura Vida encapsulates the infectious pride and love Costa Ricans have for their homeland. Here at Stumptown, sharing Costa Rican coffee is one of our favorite ways to celebrate the country's boundless vibrancy.

Stumptown works with a wide range of producer partners in Costa Rica, from micro mills to cooperatives, facilitated by our longtime export partner, Exclusive Coffees. When we began planning Stumptown's 2026 summer offerings, we saw an opportunity to highlight two partners we've worked with since 2019: a cooperative called Coopeatenas, and a farm and mill operation called Cordillera de Fuego.

Both Coopeatenas and Cordillera de Fuego deliver coffees that add clean and sweet flavors to blends like Hair Bender and Homestead. We have a high bar for quality, and sometimes find that a coffee going into one of our blends has sufficient complexity and sweetness to stand on its own as a single origin offering. It feels like we have an embarrassment of riches. This was the case with the 2026 offerings from both Coopeatenas and Cordillera de Fuego, so we seized the chance to highlight each coffee in a unique way: one as decaf and one as cold brew.

Don't Sleep on Single Origin Decaf Coffee: Meet Montañas de Fuego

Stumptown’s approach to decaf produces some stunning coffees. Customer praise often goes beyond the classic, “I can’t believe it’s decaf!,” focusing instead on how delicious and complex their cup of coffee is. This is a credit to both our trusted sourcing partners, and the Swiss Water decaffeination process.

Swiss Water is a chemical-free decaffeination process that removes caffeine using only water and coffee's own compounds, rather than chemical solvents. The process is run by the Swiss Water Decaffeinated Coffee Company in Vancouver, BC. The coffee Stumptown sourced is immersed in a specialized blend of water carrying coffee's essential compounds. Through diffusion, caffeine is drawn out of the beans while the delicate flavor compounds stay locked inside. The decaffeinated beans are then dried, evaluated, and shipped to Stumptown's roastery. Once roasted and brewed, the coffee is 99.9% caffeine-free, while keeping the sweetness and nuance that led to its selection.

To offer something special to our growing base of decaf-devoted customers, we released Decaf Costa Rica Montañas de Fuego in May. This marks the first time in many years that we've offered a single origin decaf coffee. Decaffeinated by Swiss Water, this is a special lot from Cordillera de Fuego, named for the volcanic cordillera (mountain range) where the coffee is grown.

Cordillera de Fuego was founded in 2015 by two families. Luis Campos Varela and José Francisco Hernandez – both with decades of experience managing their own family farms – formed Cordillera de Fuego with the intention of processing their coffee on shared equipment. This successful collaboration caught the attention of neighboring farmers, and Cordillera de Fuego soon expanded into a community growers group. Today, in addition to their own farms, Luis and José manage the processing for 250 smallholder producers in Costa Rica's renowned West Valley region. This year, they built a lovely lot for Stumptown to showcase as a decaf single origin offering.

We spoke with co-founder Luis Campos Varela, who was excited to hear the unique way the coffee will be offered to Stumptown customers. He’s been to the Swiss Water Process facility and expressed confidence that his coffee would be in good hands. Luis emphasized that a commitment to the core values of sustainability and investing in the long-term relationships within the producer network are foundational to the future of Cordillera de Fuego. He summed this up by saying, “Cordillera de Fuego is who we are, what we do, and it is our vision of the future coming together.”

Decaf Montañas de Fuego carries notes of milk chocolate, fresh vanilla and orange zest, all showcased within a well-rounded sweetness. It’s equally great as batch brewed coffee, pour-over, and espresso. The best thing about this dangerously drinkable coffee is that it’s caffeine-free! Decaf Montañas de Fuego is so sweet it feels like you’re drinking a fancy bar of chocolate, and we're willing to bet you’ll want more than one cup. So, go ahead and have as many as you want, anytime of the day. Pura Vida!

Best Summer Ever: Meet Sunrider

Every summer, Stumptown likes to offer a blend for home cold brew enthusiasts. This year provided the perfect opportunity to showcase a single origin coffee from Coopeatenas. We're excited to introduce Sunrider, our seasonal cold brew selection for your morning mugs and home cold brew setup.

Sunrider is well suited for any brew method, but this is a cold brew coffee at heart, particularly refreshing when steeped overnight. It'll also shine when brewed hot in a pour-over dripper or automatic drip machine. This beautifully balanced coffee features a rich caramel base, highlighted by juicy melon and sweet tropical fruits.

Coopeatenas was founded by 90 producers in 1969, in the town of Atenas, which proudly claims to have the best climate in the world. Today, the cooperative's membership includes over 1,300 producers from the Atenas, Puriscal, and Turrubares municipalities of Alajuela province, in Costa Rica's West Valley. As the cooperative has grown, it has diversified its business and increased the number of services offered to its members and community. Coopeatenas has added a supermarket, gas station, mechanic, and agricultural supply warehouse to its operations, with the intention of fostering community among cooperative families. In doing so, it has become one of the largest employers in the region.

A coffee cooperative is an organization of smallholder producers who pool their resources to mill, evaluate, and sell their coffee together under one name. Cooperatives range in size from dozens of producers to several thousand. Members contribute their coffee for quality evaluation and milling, and the mill's quality control specialists build lots to be sold under the cooperative name. The model gives small producers better access to financing and the specialty coffee export market, along with democratically elected leadership.

Since 2014, Coopeatenas has invested heavily in a project of farm renewal and renovation through distribution of coffee seedlings. One of many coffee farming balancing acts is renovation– removing old plants and introducing new ones. Yield usually starts to decline around 10 years into a coffee plant’s life, while new seedlings take approximately three years to reach full maturity. The plant distribution project, in tandem with technical support, assists producers in renovating their farms while maintaining steady production levels. The project currently distributes 200,000 plants annually across member communities.

During our conversation with Manuel Pérez García, the general manager at Coopeatenas, he highlighted the importance of farming in harmony with the natural environment. “Sustainability leads to good productivity. Renewal and renovation are ways we navigate climate change and price volatility,” he noted. “We are a cooperative of shared values.”

Find Your Own Pura Vida

With clear blue skies and long, hot days, summertime is the perfect season to celebrate the lively coffees of Costa Rica. We feel fortunate to experience coffees like these, and we recognize that it's only through so much collaboration – from producer to miller to cooperative to roaster – that we get to taste the dividends.

However you’re brewing Decaf Montañas de Fuego or Sunrider, we hope you'll experience Pura Vida – day or night – in your own way with each sip.