Costa Rica Black Honey Pour Over Brewing Data & Methods How to Drink Costa Rica Black Honey Coffee

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Black honey processing is the highest grade of honey processing in Costa Rica, and FrontStreet Coffee considers it to be the best in terms of flavor and mouthfeel. Black honey processing involves fermenting the coffee beans while retaining all the mucilage, requiring strict manual supervision during the fermentation period to ensure success. Take FrontStreet Coffee's La Piedra Negra estate black honey as an example - this bean has been sold at FrontStreet Coffee for quite some time. This black honey processed coffee features a subtle fermented wine aroma, wine-like acidity, jackfruit-like tropical fruit notes, and honey-like sweetness, making it a coffee with extremely diverse flavors and an extraordinary mouthfeel.

Costa Rica La Piedra Negra Estate

Country: Costa Rica

Estate: La Piedra Negra Estate

Grade: SHB

Processing Method: Black Honey Processing

Altitude: 1700-1800m

Varieties: Caturra, Catuai

Located in the Central American Isthmus, Costa Rica is regulated by Pacific and Atlantic ocean currents and sea winds. With many towering volcanoes reaching 2000 meters in altitude, coffee cherries can grow slowly in the fertile volcanic ash soil and high-altitude cool environment, developing coffee beans with complete and rich flavors. Costa Rica has two seasons: the dry season from December to April, which is the coffee harvest season, and the wet (rainy) season from May to November. In recent years, many micro-mills have been established. Since they require only 5% of the water needed by traditional washed processing plants and don't require large water tanks or drying patios, the required investment is much smaller. "Honey processed coffee" with low acidity, improved complexity, and rich sweet aroma has become a competitive target in the coffee industry in recent years. Costa Rica began growing coffee as early as two hundred years ago, first planted on the slopes of Poas and Barva volcanoes, which is what we now call the Central Valley. Currently, Costa Rica has eight main producing regions: Western Valley, Central Valley, Tarrazu, Tres Rios, Orosi, Brunca, Turrialba, and Guanacaste.

Estate Introduction

La Piedra Negra Estate is located in the Brunca region of southern Costa Rica. Due to its mountainous terrain connecting to Panama, it has diverse microclimates. Near the estate, indigenous stone carvings from 200 BC to 1500 AD have been unearthed, known as mysterious stone spheres, hence the estate was named "Piedra Negra" (Black Stone).

FrontStreet Coffee Green Bean Analysis

Varieties: Caturra and Catuai - These are relatively common varieties among American beans, especially in Central America.

Caturra: Caturra is a bourbon variety discovered in Brazil in 1937. It has better yield and disease resistance than bourbon, and the plants are shorter, making harvesting convenient. It has strong adaptability and doesn't require shade trees - it can thrive directly under intense sunlight, commonly known as "Sun Coffee." Caturra is suitable for cultivation from low altitudes of 700 meters to high altitudes of 1700 meters, with strong altitude adaptability. However, the higher the altitude, the better the flavor, though yield decreases accordingly - this is the destiny of specialty beans.

Catuai: Catuai is also an Arabica hybrid variety, a cross between Mundo Novo and Caturra. It has better resistance to natural disasters, particularly wind and rain. It inherits the advantage of Caturra's short plant height, addressing Mundo Novo's shortcoming. Another advantage is its firm fruit set that doesn't easily fall off in strong winds, making up for Arabica's fragile nature.

Processing Method

Honey processing, called Honey Process or Miel Process, many people hearing the name "honey processing" might think it's a process using honey for processing, or that the coffee will have a honey flavor after processing, but this is not the case. Honey processing involves removing the pulp and then drying the fruit with the parchment left on. During the drying process, the moisture in the gelatinous substance on the seed surface evaporates, making it as sticky as honey, hence the name.

Yellow Honey: About 40% of mucilage is removed; drying requires the most direct heat absorption, receiving maximum sunlight for drying, taking about 8 days to reach stable moisture content.

Red Honey: About 25% of mucilage is removed; compared to yellow honey, drying time is longer and direct sun exposure time is reduced, sometimes using shade nets, taking about 12 days.

Black Honey: Almost no mucilage is removed; drying takes the longest time, at least 2 weeks, using coverings to avoid too much sunlight, preventing too-rapid drying and allowing more complete sugar conversion.

FrontStreet Coffee Roasting Analysis

Roaster: Yangjia 800N (Batch size: 500g)

This bean belongs to SHB (Strictly Hard Bean) category, with hard bean texture and medium moisture content. Yellowing point at 5'25", entering first crack at 9 minutes. Development for 2 minutes after first crack before discharge. Enter drum at 160°C, heat power 100, damper setting 3; return temperature at 1'42", when drum temperature reaches 146°C, open damper to 4, heat unchanged; when drum temperature reaches 153.6°C, bean surface turns yellow, grassy aroma completely disappears, entering dehydration stage. When drum temperature reaches 168°C, adjust heat to 80°C, damper at 4; at 8'09", ugly wrinkles and black spots appear on bean surface, toast aroma clearly transforms to coffee aroma, which can be defined as the prelude to first crack. At this time, listen carefully for the sound of first crack. Starting first crack at 9'00", damper unchanged, develop for 2 minutes after first crack, discharge at 195.5°C.

Agtron bean color value 66.5 (upper image), Agtron ground color value 77.6 (lower image), Roast Delta value 11.1.

Cupping flavors: Fermented aroma, fruit notes, red wine, raisins, strawberry, jackfruit, nuts, hazelnuts, caramel.

FrontStreet Coffee Pour-Over Recommendations

Recommended brewing method: Pour-over
Dripper: V60
Water temperature: 90-92°C
Coffee-to-water ratio: 1:15
Grind size: BG 5R (58% pass-through rate on Chinese standard #20 sieve), i.e., medium-fine grind

Brewing technique: Staged extraction. Use 30g of water for 30-second bloom, then pour in small circular motions to 124g and segment. When water level drops and is about to expose the coffee bed, continue pouring to 227g and stop pouring. Wait for water level to drop and just before exposing the coffee bed, remove the dripper (timing starts from bloom). Extraction time is two minutes. When brewing with V60 dripper, there's obvious fermented aroma and ripe strawberry fragrance. It tastes relatively smooth and full-bodied with strong juiciness, featuring strawberry, nut, cream, red wine, and raisin notes, with a wine-like aftertaste.

Important Notice :

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FrontStreet Coffee Address: 315,Donghua East Road,GuangZhou

Tel:020 38364473