Producer Spotlight: Don Senel and Allan Campos
Long before Don Senel Campos was producing award-winning coffees, Finca La Toboba was simply home.
The farm has been in the Campos family for three generations. Senel inherited La Toboba from his father, who inherited it from his mother. In 1968, Senel's father planted the farm's first coffee trees, using the income from coffee production to support his family. Today, Senel and his son, Allan, continue that legacy, caring for the same land while steadily pushing its quality to new heights.
That balance of honoring tradition while embracing innovation is what makes the Campos family so remarkable. In 2016, Senel and Allan built their own micromill on the farm, giving them complete control over how their coffees are processed. Since then, they've continually refined their craft through thoughtful experimentation with varieties, fermentation, and drying methods, always looking for ways to make each harvest better than the last. They've also expanded production by adding new plots, Las Huacas and El Cola Roja, close to La Toboba.
Their dedication was recently recognized on one of specialty coffee's biggest stages when the Campos family earned top ten places in the Costa Rica Cup of Excellence. It's an incredible achievement, and one that celebrates years of hard work, curiosity, and relentless attention to detail.
We've been fortunate to work with Senel and Allan for more than six years, watching that journey unfold firsthand. Earlier this year, Eric and Scott had the chance to spend time with the Campos family at La Toboba and the farms surrounding Cerro Chirripó. Visiting producers is always one of the highlights of what we do. Every trip deepens our appreciation for the care, craftsmanship, and countless small decisions that shape every cup long before the coffee arrives in Denver.
Over the years, we've had the privilege of sharing several different coffees from the Campos family, each one offering a unique expression of their farm and their evolving approach to coffee production.
Our Don Senel Campos Catuai Natural has become a favorite thanks to its vibrant fruit character and approachable sweetness. It's a coffee that beautifully showcases how carefully executed natural processing can produce remarkable clarity without sacrificing balance.
This year, we were especially excited to release Sombra del Cerro Chirripó, a limited 100g offering featuring the Milenio H10 variety. Grown in the shadow of Costa Rica's highest mountain, this coffee represents another step forward in the family's pursuit of quality. Modern varieties like H10, paired with meticulous processing, continue to push the boundaries of what's possible while still expressing the unique character of their land.
One of the things we admire most about the Campos family is their willingness to keep learning. Whether it's planting new varieties, refining fermentation techniques, improving drying methods, or investing in infrastructure like their micromill, they're always asking how they can make the next harvest even better than the last. That mindset is what has transformed a multi-generational family farm into one of Costa Rica's most exciting producers, and it's a big part of why their recent Cup of Excellence recognition feels so well deserved.
For more than six years, we've had the privilege of watching Senel and Allan continue the work that began generations ago while charting an exciting future for Costa Rican coffee. We're incredibly proud to roast their coffees, even more grateful to call them friends, and can't wait to share what comes next.
