Mayra Solís's coffee story begins in March 2020, when she and her three grown children decided that the timing, however chaotic, was exactly right to turn a long-held family dream into a real business. They set out to produce exceptional single origin Costa Rica coffee and create something people would remember in the cup.
What they built is remarkable. The farm sits at 1,800 to 2,100 meters above sea level in Santa María de Dota, Costa Rica, a high-altitude coffee growing region with a serious reputation for quality. About 90% of their property is protected natural area, home to native plants and wildlife, and a natural spring that provides water to part of the surrounding community. Rather than clearing that land for more production, the family protects it — a quiet act of sustainable coffee farming that speaks louder than any certification.
Micromill, Micro-Lot, Full Control
On my first trip to Costa Rica for the first annual Women Powered Coffee Summit, I had the privilege of visiting Mayra and her family at their home. What I didn't realize is that their home is also their micromill: Alto El Vapor. The family handles their own coffee processing there, which means they control the quality of every step from cherry to green coffee bean. They cup their own lots, refine their processes, and have developed a real mastery over honey process, natural process, and washed coffee methods. The result is coffee that's clean, sweet, and layered with fruit, delivering a delicious cup year over year.
When you taste this coffee, you're tasting the decisions of people who take great care in everything they do.
Shown above: Mayra among her drying beds at her dry mill
Growing More Than Coffee
Alongside their coffee plants, the family grows various fruits and vegetables, intentionally avoiding monoculture and running the farm closer to a small regenerative agriculture model. This kind of stewardship is present on a lot of small farms but doesn't show up on labels or certifications — read about why we don't require organic or fair trade certifications on our other blog.
A Room Full of Women Who Changed Things
The Women Powered Coffee Summit I attended in 2022 was the first of its kind, a space created specifically for women coffee producers to connect, share, and be seen in an industry that has historically overlooked them. Mayra and her daughters were there, along with almost 200 other producers. Each year I return to this Summit, which has grown and now travels across Latin America, the energy sticks with me, reminding me why I started Swelter Coffee and why it's so important to acknowledge and share women's stories in coffee.
Buying Mayra's Costa Rica specialty coffee is one small way of saying: we see you, we believe in what you've built, and we want to help you share it.
