Costa Rica Honey Process Geisha Pour-Over Brewing Data | How to Brew Costa Rica Honey Process Geisha Coffee

Pour-over yellow honey. 15 g of grounds, medium-fine grind on a Fuji ghost-tooth grinder at setting 3.5, V60 dripper, water temperature 91-93°C. First pour 30 g of water for a 27-second bloom, then pour to 105 g and pause. When the water level in the bed drops to half, continue pouring slowly until you reach 225 g in total. Discard the tail end. Water-to-coffee ratio 1:15, total extraction time 2:00.

Costa Rica Tarrazu Honey Geisha

Country: Costa Rica

Grade: SHB

Region: Tarrazu

Roast Level: Light roast

Processing Method: Honey process

Honey Processing Method

After the skin and pulp are removed, the beans are dried with their mucilage still attached. What separates the various honey methods comes down to that remaining mucilage: the proportion retained, the drying time and the drying method.

Characteristics of Honey Processing

Coffee cherries are tested for sugar content during harvest, and only cherries measuring 21-22% sugar are selected. Unlike other processing methods, honey processing requires drying on AFRICAN BEDS. Dried directly on a cement floor or on the ground, the beans are easily scratched during turning, which invites bacterial contamination, and sun-drying on soil can also give the coffee an earthy taste.

Flavour Differences: Honey vs. Washed Processing

Compared with washed processing, honey-processed coffee has higher sweetness, higher sugar content and a relatively fuller body at the same roast level.

Honey-processed beans also need good ventilation while drying, otherwise the retained mucilage ferments or moulds easily and produces off-flavours.

The honey methods we commonly see are yellow honey, red honey and black honey.

Variety: Geisha

Processing Mill: Otis Granite Processing Mill

Flavour Notes: Herbal tea, rosehip, green grape

Costa Rica's Miel processing, also known as honey process, is distinctive. Old Li recently obtained these Costa Rican red honey-processed beans, which prompted him to look into the country's unique Miel method.

Introduction to Otis Granite Estate

Costa Rica's Otis Granite Processing Mill is a newer name in the country. The family cooperative was founded in 1994 but did not establish its own processing mill until 2005, and it now has 17 years of history. The mill sits about 5 km north of San Marcos in Tarrazu and draws on ten coffee estates, among them Yano Estate, spread across hillsides at elevations from 1,500 to 2,000 meters, all classified as the highest grade, SHB.

Otis 2000 Meter Estate Geisha - Golden Honey Process

Flavour: The dry aroma shows a delicate spring tea fragrance mixed with notes of orange peel and chocolate, along with herbal tea, rosehip and green grape. As the temperature changes it gradually reveals juicy, sweet lemon and peach, with a finish of orange chocolate.

Manufacturer: Coffee Workshop
Shelf Life: 90 days
Net Weight: 100 g
Packaging: Bulk coffee beans
Bean State: Roasted coffee beans
Sugar Content: Sugar-free
Origin: Costa Rica
Roast Level: Light roast

When it comes to Geisha beans, many people are captivated by the wonderful floral aroma and rich fruit acidity. In 2015 there was a surge of enthusiasm for Panama Geisha, which led many to believe mistakenly that Geisha was exclusively a Panamanian variety. In reality, Geisha was first discovered in Ethiopia in 1931 and, through a series of transplantings and cultivations, found its place in other countries and regions.

Compared with Panama Geisha, Costa Rican Geisha has a richer body. If Panama Geisha is a fresh, delicate style, then Costa Rican Geisha belongs to a more restrained one.

Costa Rica sits on the Central American isthmus at 10°N latitude, 84°W longitude. It borders the Caribbean Sea to the east and the North Pacific Ocean to the west. Costa Rica lies on the low-latitude volcanic belt of Central America, with the Central Plateau and mountain regions at elevations of roughly 800-2,000 meters, ideal for coffee. Costa Rican coffee has always been famous for its extremely balanced, clean and bright profile with berry-like fruit acidity, and exceptional lots show spicy and cocoa notes in the finish. The most famous growing region is Tarrazu, near the capital San José. Tarrazu has the highest average altitude along with excellent climate and soil, making it Costa Rica's most famous and most widely recognised premier coffee region. Tres Rios is a renowned sub-region within Tarrazu. The most famous Costa Rican single-origin coffee in the specialty world is the La Minita Estate in Tarrazu, with an annual production of only 160,000 pounds.

FrontStreet Coffee Recommendation

Honey processing and Geisha are a natural pairing, and Costa Rica's honey-processed Geisha shows why: the retained mucilage builds sweetness and a fuller body while the variety keeps the cup clean and floral. If you want to taste that combination in one bag, FrontStreet Coffee Strawberry Candy blends a honey-processed Costa Rican coffee with a washed Panama Geisha, so the cup carries both a fine floral note and sweet fruit, and it works as pour-over, moka pot or espresso machine coffee as well as a bright cold brew.

For the classic Panama Geisha experience at a more affordable price, FrontStreet Coffee Emerald Estate Green Label Geisha, originally the "Private Collection," is blended from several plots rather than a single one, so it expresses the estate's signature high-altitude Geisha character, with jasmine florals, citrus and bergamot over a clean, transparent body.

On the Ethiopian side, where Geisha originated, FrontStreet Coffee Grana Geisha comes from the Grana processing station at the border of Kochere and Grana Abaya, hand-picked from fully ripe cherries and dried in the sun on raised beds for 14 to 20 days depending on the weather. Medium-light roasted, it pours a bright citrus acidity, an elegant ginger flower aroma, ripe fruit sweetness and a delicate, silky body with the variety's fine finish. Geisha is a dense, medium-light roasted coffee that can sink and clog the dripper, so FrontStreet Coffee suggests a grind of about 78% passing a No. 20 standard sieve, roughly fine-sugar size, brewed at 91°C with 15 g of coffee, a small Hario V60 and a 1:16 ratio. Pour 30 g to bloom for 30 seconds, build to 125 g, then finish at 225 g for a total brew time of about 2:10 to 2:20.