The Journey of The Roastery Coffee: From the Central Mountains to the Pacific Coast

An interview with Irene Prentice, founder of The Roastery

For Irene Prentice, sourcing coffee is much more than picking up a few bags of green beans. It is about relationships, learning, and being connected to the people and places behind every cup served at The Roastery.

Every two months, Irene makes the journey from Santa Teresa to the coffee-growing mountains of Costa Rica. Her day begins around 3:00 a.m., taking the first ferry and driving toward the farm of Ricardo, a coffee producer located in the West Valley, near Sarchí and approximately 18 kilometers west of Poás Volcano.

“Ricardo always greets me with a big hug, a smile, and a coffee he has made with a French press.”

Her visits are not simply about collecting coffee. Irene walks through the farm with Ricardo, learns about new varieties, talks with the workers, and catches up about their families. On one of her recent visits, she discovered new coffee varieties being planted — including the Millennial variety, which she has already reserved for a future harvest in 2029.

After visiting the farm, Irene continues to San Ramón before making the long journey back to Santa Teresa. By the time she arrives at The Roastery, it can be around 10:00 p.m.

The work doesn’t end there.

Each coffee sack weighs approximately 46 kilograms, and Irene typically brings back around four sacks — nearly 186 kilograms of coffee. She unloads the coffee herself, preparing it for the roasting process and the weeks ahead.

When coffee is roasted at the farm

Sometimes, the journey takes an even more special turn. Ricardo’s farm has its own roasting facility, allowing Irene to roast coffee alongside the producer.

When The Roastery needs coffee immediately, she may roast around 40 kilograms directly at the farm. This means she can return to Santa Teresa with both green coffee and freshly roasted beans — coffee that has been harvested, processed, and roasted right in the mountains where it was grown.

“I always feel that’s a very special selection of coffee because I get to roast it with the producer. I don’t think that happens very often.”

For Irene, this connection is what makes specialty coffee so meaningful. It is not only about the final cup, but about understanding its origin, meeting the people who produce it, and being part of the journey from farm to coffee shop.

Today, The Roastery continues to build those relationships, one farm visit and one cup at a time.

Every coffee has a story. This is part of ours.