Origin Stories: Tiesto – A Chorotega Fermented Coffee Tradition

Tiesto begins in the heart of Costa Rica’s Nicoya Peninsula, where the Indigenous Matambú community has preserved Chorotega culture for generations. Here, coffee fermentation draws inspiration from coyol wine, their traditional drink, a practice that gives Tiesto its unmistakable character.

Our Tiesto Coffee starts with a 5-day anaerobic rest in sealed barrels, followed by two weeks of sun-drying on the same land where the community’s pottery, language, and traditions continue to thrive. Those fermented coffee beans create a cup that tastes both familiar and ancient - dark chocolate depth, jammy fruit sweetness, and a rounded finish shaped by the process itself.

What Fermentation Brings to the Cup 

Fermented coffee doesn’t necessarily taste sharp or sour in the way people expect. Instead, the barrel process shapes texture, aroma, and the way flavors unfold in the cup.

With Tiesto, fermentation changes less about what you taste and more about how the cup unfolds. Flavors arrive gradually, revealing more depth and structure with each sip rather than all at once.

The influence of fermentation shows up less as intensity and more as structure - layered, controlled, and lingering. Each sip reveals something slightly different while staying balanced from beginning to end.

Why “Tiesto”?

A tiesto is a shard of a broken ceramic vessel, and for the Chorotega people, it represents memory, ancestry, and the continuity of their craft. The name honors Chorotega pottery, officially recognized as an Intangible Cultural Heritage of Costa Rica.

Every Detail Has Meaning

• The Red Color: The bag’s deep red mirrors the tones found in traditional Chorotega ceramics.
• The Front Seal: A graphic interpretation of a tiesto itself — a pottery fragment that symbolizes cultural inheritance and resilience.
• Transparent Coffee Details: Process, roast level, varietal, altitude, weight, and our full organoleptic profile — listed clearly in both Spanish and English, just as we would share them at origin.
• Our Certifications: The PYME Costa Rica seal and our Life Zone certification proudly connect Tiesto to its Blue Zone roots in the Nicoya Peninsula.

Beyond the Bag

Tiesto was designed as a teaching tool - a way to carry Costa Rican heritage forward through coffee. Turn the bag over and you'll find the full story behind its cultural significance.

Every purchase directly supports that heritage. Five percent of all Tiesto profits go to the Cultural Committee for the Preservation of Matambugueño Traditions, sustaining the community where this coffee is grown, processed, and roasted.

Tiesto brings together craft, culture, and a one-of-a-kind fermentation tradition. Get your Tiesto Fermented Coffee today and taste a fragment of history.