Costa Rica | Diego Hidalgo Umana, La Bandera Micromill

Tarrazú Canton, Los Santos Valley

La Bandera farm came into Diego Hidalgo's family when it was purchased by his great-great-grandfather nearly 200 years ago. They began producing coffee when his father took ownership in 1965 and became a member of Coopedota. Growing up, Diego and his siblings spent their summers helping his father harvest the coffee, earning extra income for their home and school supplies.

After spending some time in the United States, Diego returned to La Bandera farm and micromill. He and his siblings have since expanded the farm and built a nursery with a diverse lineup of specialty coffee varietals. The combination of La Bandera's ideal, steep mountainous landscape, along with the experience and ingenuity of Diego and his family, creates the potential for many years of amazing coffee to come.

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2026 Report - Brent Piepergerdes, Green Coffee Buyer

We first visited Diego Hildago at his micromill and farm, La Bandera, in the Los Santos region of Tarrazu in March of 2026. We were introduced to Diego by our friends from Brumas del Zurqui, who procured the La Bandera Red Honey Gesha lot we are excited to offer this spring. 

Diego has owned the La Bandera micromill since 2014. He grew up in coffee, as his father was a member of the renowned Coopedota since 1974. Diego enjoyed coffee but sought to make a living in the United States, moving here in 1995. Except for a brief return to Costa Rica in 1999 and 2000, Diego lived in the US until his final return in 2011 to take over the coffee farm his father had purchased. La Bandera is the original farm and location of the micromill that Diego utilizes for his other two farms as well: Aguas Buenas and La Naciente. The highest part of La Bandera measures 1975masl where he grows Gesha, Starmaya, and Typica. Catuai, Villa Lobos, and Yellow Bourbon fill out the rest of the farm. Diego earned 9th place in Cup of Excellence 2024 for a Gesha Natural and 7th place in 2022 for a Gesha Washed.  

This year has been particularly challenging for Diego. After a big harvest in 2025, he estimates that this year will be down nearly 70%. That is a truly devastating turn of events. The bumper 2025 harvest meant more pruning was required but it also went late into May which led to picking occurring during the early stages of flowering. This reduced the number of new cherries from the outset. Then, heavy rains uncharacteristically fell in December and February, followed by a hard frost. 

Despite this, Diego continues to push through and produce excellent coffees. The quantity may be dramatically lower but the quality remains very high. 

We look forward to sharing other coffees from La Bandera this year, including a very special and supremely limited controlled drying room lot.