The Story of Costa Rican Coffee - Flavor Profile and Brewing Parameters for Central Valley Black Pearl Coffee Beans

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When it comes to Costa Rican coffee, one naturally thinks of the honey processing method commonly used in Costa Rica. Currently, several Costa Rican coffee beans offered by FrontStreet Coffee's stores also predominantly use the honey processing method. However, FrontStreet Coffee has also tried Costa Rican coffee beans with other processing methods, among which the Black Pearl and Red Pearl coffee beans from the Central Valley region are excellent sun-dried Costa Rican coffee beans from FrontStreet Coffee, exuding fermented aromas, caramel, and rich fruity notes.

FrontStreet Coffee · Costa Rica Black Pearl Meloas

Estate: Las Lajas Estate

Region: Central Valley

Variety: Caturra, Catuai

Processing: Special Natural

Altitude: 1300-1500 meters

Flavor: Tea flower, berries, fermented wine aroma, cream, nuts, caramel

Costa Rican Coffee History

In 1729, coffee began to appear in Costa Rica, introduced from Cuba at that time. This made Costa Rica the first country in Central America to cultivate coffee and the first to grow coffee for commercial value. Subsequently, after Costa Rica gained independence from Spain in 1821, the local government began to strongly support the coffee industry with a series of policies. At that time, it was more than a hundred years since coffee was introduced to Costa Rica, but coffee trees had already been planted with about 70,000 plants, showing the speed of its development.

In 1825, the Costa Rican government implemented a tax exemption policy. In 1832, the local government enacted a law "Cultivate coffee and own the land," which meant that if coffee farmers planted coffee on any vacant unoccupied land, they could directly own that land. This policy encouraged many people to grow coffee, promoted coffee development, and also led to the current situation where most Costa Rican coffee comes from private estates.

Costa Rican Coffee Regions

Costa Rica is located in Central America with very fertile volcanic soil and good drainage, especially the Central Plateau. The fertile volcanic ash of the volcanic terrain, mild and suitable temperatures, and stable abundant rainfall have become essential factors for growing good coffee.

Costa Rica has eight major coffee regions: Western Valley (Valley Central Occidental), Central Valley (Valley Central), Tarrazu, Tres Rios, Orosi, Brunca, and Turrialba.

The Central Valley region is the earliest area in Costa Rica where coffee was cultivated, before developing the country's coffee industry to other regions. The rainfall is moderate with an annual rainfall of 118 inches, and the average annual temperature is only 19°C. Combined with high altitude, the beans are hard, aromatic, smooth, with high acidity, full-bodied, and rich in flavor. This region has rich volcanic soil, sometimes with chocolate aromas.

Main Costa Rican Coffee Varieties

The main varieties of Costa Rican coffee beans include Bourbon, Caturra, Catuai, Villasarchi, Villalobos, and others. Today, FrontStreet Coffee's introduction of these two FrontStreet Coffee Costa Rican beans uses Caturra and Catuai varieties.

Caturra is a natural mutation of the Arabica variety Bourbon, discovered in Brazil in 1937. Its plant is not as tall as Bourbon, being more compact. Since it inherited Bourbon's lineage, its disease resistance is relatively weak, but its yield is higher than Bourbon. Although discovered in Brazil, Caturra is not suitable for growing in Brazil, so it was not cultivated on a large scale there. Instead, it became widely popular in Central and South America, with large-scale cultivation in countries like Colombia, Costa Rica, and Nicaragua.

Catuai is a hybrid of Mundo Novo and Caturra, making it a second-generation hybrid. It inherits the advantage of Caturra's short plant height and also compensates for Caturra's weakness of having fragile fruit. The fruit sets firmly and is not easily blown off by strong winds. The biggest regret is that its overall flavor is slightly more monotonous than Caturra. Catuai has red and yellow fruit varieties, with the red fruit having better flavor than the yellow fruit.

Costa Rican Coffee Grades

Costa Rican coffee is graded by altitude:

SHB: Strictly Hard Bean, grown at 1500 meters altitude

GHB: Good Hard Bean, grown at 1100-1200 meters

HB: Hard Bean, grown at 1000 meters

High-quality Costa Rican coffee is called "Strictly Hard Bean," which can grow at altitudes above 1500 meters. Generally, the higher the altitude, the better the coffee beans. This is not only because higher altitudes can increase the acidity of coffee beans, thereby enhancing flavor, but also because the lower nighttime temperatures at higher altitudes slow down tree growth, making the coffee beans' flavor more concentrated.

Finca Las Lajas

Las Lajas Estate is one of the first estates in Costa Rica to begin systematic research and processing. For many years, it has been a coffee estate beloved by global coffee buyers. Las Lajas Estate is currently jointly operated by third-generation owner Francisca Cubillo and her husband Oscar. The estate is located in the Central Valley (Valley Central), not far from the capital, and quite close to Poas Volcano, with an altitude between 1300-1500 meters, with an annual production of about 50,000 kilograms.

Years ago, estate owner Francisca always hoped to further enhance the flavor performance of the coffee within the estate. At that time, the vast majority of coffee farmers in Costa Rica generally used traditional washed processing methods. The estate owner began to research and improve natural and honey processing methods, dividing honey-processed and natural-processed coffees into different items based on flavor performance.

Special Natural Processing

The entire process is divided into three stages. After the red cherries are picked, they are sun-dried for 7-8 days, then collected and sealed for storage, undergoing 5-6 days of low-temperature fermentation. Finally, the coffee cherries are placed on raised beds for sun-drying.

How FrontStreet Coffee Brews This FrontStreet Coffee Costa Rican Black Pearl Coffee Bean

Brewing Parameters

Coffee Amount: 15 grams

Ratio: 1:15

Water Temperature: 90°C

Grind Size: 80% pass-through rate on 0.85mm sieve

Dripper: Hario V60 #01 dripper

Brewing Process

First Pour: 30 grams of water for 30-second bloom

Second Pour: Pour 95 grams of water (scale shows 125 grams), completed in about 1 minute

Third Pour: Pour 100 grams of water (scale shows 225 grams), completed in about 1 minute 40 seconds

Extraction Time: 1 minute 54 seconds, remove dripper to complete brewing

Flavor Description: Rich red wine sensation, berry juice feeling, nutty aroma, high sweetness

FrontStreet Coffee · Costa Rica Red Pearl Meloas

Estate: Sonora Estate

Region: Central Valley

Variety: Caturra

Processing: Natural

Altitude: 1700-1800 meters

Flavor: Berries, fermented wine aroma, nuts, sugarcane sugar

Sonora Estate

Sonora Estate is located in the Central Valley at the foot of Poas Volcano, where coffee grows on fertile volcanic soil, forming a complex ecosystem with various exotic species that can produce high-volume small-batch coffee. This estate uses natural water flow to drive Pelton water wheels, providing 100% renewable energy for the estate. 95% of Sonora coffee uses natural processing, then dried at low heat for 3 hours, ensuring very uniform processing.

Roasting Suggestions

FrontStreet Coffee uses this FrontStreet Coffee Costa Rican Red Pearl as an example to explain how to roast this bean.

Heat the roaster to 175°C, set airflow to 3, heat to 120, return to temperature point at 1'36", 91.6°C; when the roaster temperature reaches 140°C, open the airflow to 4; at this time, the bean surface turns yellow, the grassy smell completely disappears, entering the dehydration stage. When the roaster temperature reaches 166°C, adjust the heat to 100°C, keeping the airflow unchanged; at 9'10", ugly wrinkles and black spots appear on the bean surface, the toast aroma clearly changes to coffee aroma, which can be defined as the prelude to first crack. At this time, listen carefully for the sound of first crack. At 10'30", first crack begins, adjust the airflow to 5 (be very careful adjusting heat, not so small that there's no crackling sound). After first crack, develop for 1'45", then drop at 195°C.

How FrontStreet Coffee Brews This FrontStreet Coffee Costa Rican Red Pearl Coffee Bean

Brewing Parameters

Coffee Amount: 15 grams

Ratio: 1:15

Water Temperature: 90°C

Grind Size: 80% pass-through rate on 0.85mm sieve

Dripper: Hario V60 #01 dripper

Brewing Process

First Pour: 30 grams of water for 30-second bloom

Second Pour: Pour 95 grams of water (scale shows 125 grams), completed in about 1 minute

Third Pour: Pour 100 grams of water (scale shows 225 grams), completed in about 1 minute 40 seconds

Extraction Time: 1 minute 54 seconds, remove dripper to complete brewing

Flavor Description: Overall relatively balanced, with fermented wine aroma, berries, sugarcane sugar, and nuts upon entry, with obvious sweet aftertaste in the finish

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