monse prado - costa rica - honey

Fi O’Brien and Casey Lalonde are the owners of Girls Who Grind, based in Wiltshire, South-West England. They are a womxn-led, anti-patriarchy specialty coffee roastery and they are part of the rebellion movement. All coffees they source come exclusively from change-making womxn producers whose work is celebrated and stories are shared. To give back to the producers in exchange for everything they give, above and beyond the beans themselves, Fi and Casey run the Cheek to Cheek initiative, where 10% of the sale price of all their retail coffees is put back into their suppliers' pockets to show intention about being one team. 

About the beans... due to a variety of factors including those related to climate change, Monse's harvest was a lot smaller than she was anticipating (#weneedtotalkaboutclimatechangeandcoffee) but we're grateful to have even a small amount of this amazing coffee roasted by Girls Who Grind. Incredibly fruity with sparkling acidity and floral notes.

Monse absolutely shines when brewed on filter, whether batch brew or V60 she will no doubt put a smile on your face with her syrupy honey sweetness, balanced with juicy peach and hints of chamomile.

About Monse Prado... Girls Who Grind are incredibly proud (and us alongside them, as their stockists in Norway) to partner with Bean Voyage and bring you this wonderful coffee from innovative, first-gen producer Monse Prado. Bean Voyage is a feminist organisation building an equitable value chain with smallholder womxn farmers in Costa Rica.

After working in San Jose, Monse returned to Tarrazu to live with her partner. As a young professional with endless dreams and strong work ethics, Monse began her journey into the coffee production world. Her partner’s family have been life-long coffee producers and she wanted to help them to see that there is more to coffee production beyond farming. Her partner, an agricultural engineer, designed a micro-mill for Monse to manage everything on her own. This innovative micro-mill has a uniquely vertical design and is certified by the local government for its efficient water and energy usage. Monse’s ethos for Ditso is built around coffee quality and ecological preservation and is a member of the NAMA Cafe Project, a unique worldwide project that seeks to measure and mitigate the environmental impact of coffee activity. as one of the region’s younger coffee producers, she collaborates with the others in the group to bring more innovative ideas. 

“I believe that the constant challenge as a woman is to be able to show that we can contribute to the world of coffee and develop in the activity, and that we can also do it in an excellent way” Monse says.

Producer: Monse Prado
Farm: Ditso Coffee Farm
Region: Tarrazu, Costa Rica
Variety: Caturra / Catuai
Process: Honey
Altitude: 1800masl

Grind note: grind away. Just the way you like it.

Shelf-life: 180 days