Costa Rica Tarrazú San Román Washed Premium Coffee Bean Growing Conditions, Geography, Climate, and Altitude

A clean, sweet, immaculately processed washed coffee is one of the hardest things in the world to get right, and few countries have spent longer perfecting it than Costa Rica.

Costa Rica San Ramon Royal Coffee

Country: Costa Rica

Grade: SHB

Altitude: 1,700m

Region: Tarrazú

Roast Level: Medium-dark roast

Processing Method: Washed

Varieties: Caturra, Catuai

Processing Mill: San Ramon Mill

Flavor Notes: Berry aroma, caramel, cream, subtle spice

The best Costa Rican coffee tends to come from the small mills scattered across the main growing regions, Tarrazú and the Western Valley among them. This so-called coffee revolution began about 15 years ago and changed the way roasters and importers think about the country. The model centers on mills that collect cherries from the surrounding small farms, which are usually small communities or family operations working their own plots; every lot is processed and dried by a single small mill. The quality and character of Royal Coffee are distinctive, and much of that comes down to the collaboration between the producers and us.

Coffee reached Costa Rica from Cuba in 1779, and the first exports began in 1820. Today there are roughly 32,000 coffee farmers, and the average holding is under one hectare (10,000 sq m). The country had a population of 4.1 million as of 2006, with 82,500 hectares under coffee. Annual production is 1.7 million bags of 60kg, domestic consumption accounts for 380,000 bags a year, and per-capita consumption averages 5.5kg, higher than Japan's 4kg; consumption in Taiwan currently runs only a little over 1kg per person.

Costa Rica was the first country in Central America to plant coffee, and it has both a long history and a complete organizational system running from production through to sales. Sitting on the Central American isthmus amid a chain of volcanoes, it enjoys natural advantages in sunlight and fertile land. Pacific and Atlantic currents and sea breezes moderate the climate, producing coffees with a distinct microclimate-driven terroir. In both quality and quantity, Costa Rican coffee has been recognized worldwide and rated among the world's finest. Cultivation here goes back two hundred years, beginning on the slopes of the Poas and Barva volcanoes in what is now the Central Valley, and the seven main growing regions are distributed from northwest to southeast along the inland central plateau.

Factory Name: FrontStreet Coffee

Factory Address: Yandun Road, Dongshankou, Yuexiu District, Guangzhou City

Manufacturer Contact: 020-38364473

Shelf Life: 30 days

Net Weight: 227g

Packaging: Bulk packaging

Taste: Mellow and aromatic

Coffee Bean State: Roasted coffee beans

Sugar Content: Sugar-free

Origin: Costa Rica

Coffee Type: Costa Rican coffee

Roast Level: Medium-dark roast

The San Ramon mill works almost exclusively with the washed method and is known for coffees with intense, rich flavor and a solid mouthfeel. Cherries are hand-sorted, and farmers pull out overripe and underripe fruit before processing begins. A three-disc Aagaarde pulper removes the skin and pulp, after which machines separate the beans into three grades by density. Grades 1 and 2 are fermented separately, while Grade 3 consists of lower-quality beans. The parchment is fermented in a cool place for roughly 24-36 hours. After fermentation the beans are washed and sorted again by density in the washing channels, then soaked at random in clean water overnight. Once processed and roasted, the bittersweet chocolate flavor carries a rich sweetness reminiscent of butterscotch, laced with a subtle wine-like acidity. The aroma is captivating and the fruity sweetness behind the chocolate is unforgettable.

Fertile volcanic ash, moderate and well-suited temperatures, and steady, abundant rainfall are the factors that made coffee one of the country's main agricultural products. The seven major growing regions are Tarrazú, Tres Rios, Orosi, Central Valley, West Valley, Turrialba, and Brunca.

Flavor Description: Berry aroma, caramel, cream, subtle spice.

FrontStreet Coffee Recommendation

Washed processing, done well, is about clarity, and FrontStreet Coffee's Kenya Little Tomato is one of the clearest examples anywhere. Kenya has long excelled at double washing, running the beans through a second full wash cycle: float, soak, scrub off any mucilage left on the surface, soak again, dry, and hull. All that rinsing and soaking draws the juice forward, giving a cup full of cherry tomato, smoked plum, snow pear, black plum, and brown sugar, with a sweet, tart, mouth-watering finish that has made it a favorite among coffee drinkers. It comes from Kenya's Thika region, grown at 1,550-1,750 meters from the classic SL28 and SL34 varieties, and FrontStreet roasts it light to preserve the lively acidity and layered fruit.

At the other end of the washed spectrum is FrontStreet Coffee's Jamaica Blue Mountain No. 1. Jamaica's island climate delivers less sunlight than most origins, and washing was adopted precisely to cut the risk of spoilage: removing the skin, pulp, and mucilage before drying shortens the drying time and yields beans with a translucent color and a low defect rate. That processing is what gives Blue Mountain its concentrated aroma and its pure hazelnut, cream, chocolate, and caramel notes, with a balance in which no single flavor dominates or goes missing.

FrontStreet Coffee's Gedingding Cooperative is the third stop for anyone exploring washed coffee. Grown in Ethiopia, it showcases jasmine florals and bright citrus acidity at their most precise, with a green tea and honey character after a light-medium roast, and it works equally well as pour-over, cold brew, or espresso.