How is the Costa Rica Yellow Honey Coffee Bean Market? Which Costa Rican Coffee Brand is the Best?

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Costa Rican West Valley Helsar de Zarcero Yellow Honey Process

Costa Rican coffee has always been considered a classic example of perfect flavor profile—balanced, clean, and mild form its foundation. This batch from the Helsar de Zarcero processing plant in the West Valley region is renowned for its excellent natural geographical conditions and superior regional cultivation management techniques. It presents a nearly perfect classic flavor with lively citrus notes in acidity, blackberry fruit aromas, rich acidity and mouthfeel, melon-like sweetness with smooth texture, stone fruit/subtle floral notes, and a significant coffee flower fragrance in the aftertaste. It's a coffee full of Latin countryside charm.

Coffee Information

Varieties: Caturra, Catuai

Processing Plant: Helsar de Zarcero Processing Plant

Flavor Notes: Brown sugar, almond, black tea

Costa Rican Coffee Excellence

Costa Rica was the first country in Central America to cultivate coffee, boasting a long history and a complete system from production to sales. Located in the Central American isthmus with numerous volcanoes, it possesses natural advantages of sunlight and soil. The climate is moderated by Pacific and Atlantic ocean currents and sea breezes, producing coffee with characteristics unique to local microclimate terroirs. In both quality and quantity, Costa Rican coffee has consistently received world recognition and has been rated as one of the world's high-quality coffees.

The fertile volcanic soil, mild and suitable temperatures, and stable abundant rainfall of Costa Rica's volcanic terrain are all factors contributing to coffee becoming one of the country's main agricultural products. The seven major producing regions are: Tarrzu, Tres Rios, Orosi, Central Valley, West Valley, Turrialba, and Brunca.

Innovative Processing Methods

While Costa Rica has a long history of coffee cultivation, the innovative "dry" processing method has become trendy in the past decade. Collectively known as "honey processing," this new method uses pulp removers to adjust the degree of pulp removal, producing "honey sensation" ranging from light to intense as the color progresses from light to dark (white, yellow-red, yellow-red-black), each with varying acidity, complex aromas, and richness—each with its own merits and depth.

The Herbazu processing plant, located in the West Valley region's Naranjo area, is highly renowned in this region. Besides having its own coffee plantation, it also processes green beans for nearby estates and small coffee farmers.

Flavor: Brown sugar, floral notes, almond, black tea, orange and sweet spice sensations, mild acidity, syrupy mouthfeel, excellent aftertaste.

Caturra Variety Characteristics

Caturra is a single-gene variant of Bourbon, discovered in Brazil in 1937. Both its yield and disease resistance are superior to Bourbon, and the plant is shorter, making harvesting convenient. Unfortunately, like Bourbon, it suffers from biennial production cycles. However, its strong adaptability allows it to thrive without shade trees, even under direct intense sunlight, earning it the name "Sun Coffee." It can adapt to high-density planting but requires more fertilization, increasing costs, so initial farmer acceptance was not high.

However, when coffee prices soared in the 1970s, farmers switched to Caturra to increase yields. With strong promotion from Brazilian and Colombian authorities, results were fruitful. Farmer acceptance of Caturra signified a major transformation in cultivation techniques. Brazil and Colombia adopted high-yield, high-density sun cultivation methods. By 1990, one million hectares could harvest 14 million bags of coffee beans, increasing production capacity by 60%. No wonder high-yield, high-quality Caturra has become a variety relied upon by various producing countries.

Brewing Recommendations

For pour-over yellow honey process: 15g of coffee, medium grind (Fuji Royal grinder #4), V60 dripper, water temperature 88-89°C. First pour 30g of water for a 27-second bloom, then pour to 105g and stop. Wait until the water level drops to halfway before pouring again, slowly pouring until reaching 225g. Avoid the final tail section. Water-to-coffee ratio 1:15, extraction time 2:00.

Caturra is suitable for cultivation from low altitudes of 700 meters to high altitudes of 1700 meters, with strong altitude adaptability. The higher the altitude, the better the flavor, but relatively lower yield—this is the destiny of specialty coffee. Some academics call Caturra the intensive and sun-exposed version of Bourbon, which is quite insightful. There is also a yellow Caturra variant (Caturra Amarello) in Central and South America, but its reputation is not as good as Yellow Bourbon.

When lightly roasted, Caturra shows distinct acidity and overall brightness. With proper processing, sweetness can be expressed exceptionally well, but the coffee body is relatively low compared to Bourbon, and the cleanliness of mouthfeel is somewhat lacking.

Usually, Caturra has red berries, but in very rare regions, there are yellow Caturras, such as the very few yellow Caturras grown in Hawaii.

Product Details

Manufacturer: Dazhen Coffee FrontStreet Coffee (FrontStreet Coffee)

Address: No. 10 Bao'an Front Street, Guangzhou

Contact: 020-38364473

Ingredients: In-house roasted

Shelf Life: 90 days

Net Weight: 227g

Packaging: Bulk coffee beans

Roast Level: Roasted coffee beans

Sugar Content: Sugar-free

Origin: Costa Rica

Coffee Type: Other

Roast Degree: Medium roast

Technical Specifications

Costa Rica Helsar De Zarcero

Country: Costa Rica

Grade: SHB

Region: West Valley

Roast Level: Medium roast

Processing Method: Yellow honey

Yellow Honey Processing: 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.

Important Notice :

前街咖啡 FrontStreet Coffee has moved to new addredd:

FrontStreet Coffee Address: 315,Donghua East Road,GuangZhou

Tel:020 38364473