Rare coffee species, a living botanical collection and the couple behind an extraordinary garden in the highlands of Biolley.
Tucked into the mist-shrouded slopes of the Talamanca mountains, the colourful guest cabins at Coffea Diversa emerge from the jungle. Their organic curves and bold hues bring Antoni Gaudí to mind and are a clever architectural nod to the traditional canastos, the hand-woven coffee baskets carried through these hills by generations of harvesters. Yet behind this whimsical setting lies one of the most scientifically significant coffee destinations in the world.
Located in Biolley, directly bordering the pristine rainforests of La Amistad International Park, a UNESCO World Heritage biosphere shared between Costa Rica and Panama, Coffea Diversa is not a traditional coffee plantation. Founded in 2003 by Gonzalo Hernández and Fanny García, it is a living botanical garden and rare species gene bank. For coffee enthusiasts and travellers alike, peeling back the skin of a freshly harvested cherry here to taste its sweet, translucent fruit is a revelation. It transforms coffee from a roasted morning commodity into what it truly is: a complex, biodiverse fruit shaped by genetics, micro-terroir and human guardianship.
The Living Gene Bank: Beyond Arabica and Robusta
Most of the global coffee trade relies on just two species: Coffea arabica and Coffea canephora (Robusta) however Gonzalo and Fanny set out to challenge that monoculture. Over two decades, they have assembled a private collection of hundreds of rare coffee species, botanical variants, landraces and spontaneous genetic mutations gathered from historical collections across Africa, Asia, and the Americas. Walking through the garden feels like exploring a living museum of coffee evolution. Here, the word coffee expands into an extraordinary spectrum of plant architectures, leaf colours, cherry sizes and sensory profiles.
The Holy Grail of Species: Coffea Eugenioides
Among the collection, Coffea Eugenioides stands out as a holy grail for coffee purists. As one of the two parent species that naturally hybridised to create arabica, Eugenioides possesses a genetic blueprint unlike almost anything brewed in commercial cafés. Containing roughly a third of the caffeine found in standard Arabica, it exhibits zero bitterness. Instead, the brewed cup is wildly sweet, displaying notes of marshmallow, honey, black tea and passion fruit. Seeing and tasting this rare species at origin offers a direct window into the evolutionary origin of specialty coffee.
The Seed-to-Cup Masterclass: Micro-Terroir & Processing
What makes Coffea Diversa such a special experience for travellers and coffee researchers is the total transparency of their process. Gonzalo, Fanny and their team guide guests through every single phase of production, offering an immersive, hands-on masterclass and answers to questions from even the most experienced coffee enthusiasts. Your journey might begin in the propagation nursery, where you plant a freshly germinated seedling with your own hands, a young plant destined to be transplanted into the main garden to grow and fruit for decades. Depending on the season you might follow the harvest into the field, observing how pickers measure sugar levels to select cherries only at peak ripeness. At the micro-mill, you see how processing is tailored to each rare varietal’s unique genetics, whether dried whole in the sun as Naturals for deep berry notes, processed as sticky Honeys for caramel sweetness, or washed with mountain spring water to highlight bright, floral acidity. The experience culminates in the private tasting room, where comparative cuppings reveal how botanical genetics, meticulous processing and micro-terroir shape every nuance in the cup.
Highland Hospitality & Coffee-Inspired Gastronomy
While coffee brings you to Biolley, Gonzalo and Fanny’s generous hospitality is what makes Coffea Diversa unforgettable. They have built a true highland sanctuary where design, nature and craft intersect. Waking up in a colourful guest cabin surrounded by coffee trees and views of La Amistad’s canopy is matched only by evenings at the table, enjoying multi-course menus infused with cascara reductions and micro-roasted spice rubs that celebrate every nuance of the harvest.
What makes Coffea Diversa so Special
What makes Coffea Diversa truly extraordinary is its role as a living botanical gene bank, shifting the focus away from commercial high-yield farming toward rare genetic conservation and species diversity. By cultivating dozens of distinct species and heirloom varietals side by side in the exact same soil and microclimate of Biolley, the estate functions as a natural laboratory, decoupling terroir from genetics to demonstrate how plant DNA directly dictates flavour in the cup. More than a sanctuary for rare tastes, this collection holds profound significance for the future of coffee; as climate change threatens traditional Arabica farming worldwide, resilient species like Coffea Eugenioides, Liberica and wild genetic mutations housed here may hold the answers for the next generation of global coffee cultivation.
The Concierge Brief: Planning Your Highland Stay
Accommodation: Private stays in colourful, Gaudí-inspired guest cabins set within the varietal garden.
Location: Biolley, Puntarenas Province, bordering La Amistad International Park in southern Costa Rica.
Exclusive Experiences: Private varietal garden tours, hands-on nursery seed-planting, micro-mill processing masterclasses, led cuppings with Gonzalo and specialised coffee-infused dining.