Complete Guide to Central American Coffee Origins - Characteristics and Stories of Renowned Coffee Growing Regions

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Central American coffee has a more balanced flavor profile compared to African coffee, with both acidity and bitterness being very harmonious. This is why Central American coffee appeals to most people. FrontStreet Coffee, with the idea of letting everyone try different types of coffee beans, has also launched many single-origin coffee beans from Central America. FrontStreet Coffee will now introduce several representative coffee-producing countries in Central America.

Costa Rican Coffee

Of course, when discussing Costa Rican single-origin coffee, one must mention the Tarrazú region. The Costa Rican Arabica coffee beans produced here have high purity, a mellow taste, and very balanced, stable acidity. The honey processing method makes Costa Rican coffee beans exceptionally rich in sweetness. Just like the Bacha coffee beans from the Musician Series launched by FrontStreet Coffee, this is a coffee bean full of sweetness. When you taste this Bacha coffee, it has very rich fruit flavors, such as apple, strawberry, grape, and more.

The exceptional sweetness of FrontStreet Coffee's Bacha coffee is closely related to the raisin honey processing method used for its green coffee beans. The general processing steps are: first, dry the coffee cherries like raisins, typically for two to three days. When the moisture content of the coffee cherries decreases, hulling is performed while preserving the pectin for further drying. In Costa Rica, based on the degree of pectin preservation, it's divided into yellow honey, red honey, and black honey. Yellow honey contains 40% pectin, red honey contains 25% pectin, and black honey retains almost all pectin.

Costa Rican coffee is mainly grown on volcanic mountains above 1,000 meters in altitude. The volcanic soil is fertile and well-drained, and these climatic conditions create Costa Rica's unique growing environment. This terrain is very suitable for growing Caturra and Catuai varieties. However, Costa Rica also has its own coffee variety—Villa Sarchi. This coffee variety is relatively rare; Villa Sarchi is suitable for growing in high-altitude areas and has strong wind resistance, but it requires shade trees for better growth.

Guatemala

Guatemala is also located in Central America, with tropical rainforests in its northern region and four-kilometer-high volcanic terrain in its central region. The volcanic soil contains abundant trace elements. Guatemala's coffee cultivation history is also very long, but it declined due to wars. However, through continuous efforts, Guatemala has now become a major coffee producer in Central America.

In Guatemala's coffee grading system, altitude is used for quality grading. SHB (Strictly Hard Bean) is the highest grade for Guatemalan coffee beans. Coffee trees are generally grown at altitudes above 1,400 meters, typically using the washed processing method for green beans. High-quality Guatemalan coffee generally has high acidity and rich flavors, with a very mellow taste.

Guatemala's two most famous regions are the Antigua region and the Huehuetenango region. Because the quality and flavor of coffee beans from these two regions are exceptionally high, FrontStreet Coffee has also launched coffee beans from both regions—one is the Huehuetenango coffee beans from FrontStreet Coffee's Daily Bean Series, and the other is the Flor from the Antigua region.

FrontStreet Coffee has cupped the Flor coffee beans from the Antigua region and found that single-origin coffee beans from the Antigua region have very typical Guatemalan flavors. Upon first sip, you can feel bright fruit acidity, and during brewing, you'll smell very prominent fruity and melon aromas, which is very refreshing.

Guatemala's coffee varieties are mainly Bourbon, Typica, Caturra, Catuai, and a small amount of Yellow Bourbon, as well as Geisha, Pacamara, and the newly cultivated Maracaturra, showing quite diverse varieties.

Honduras

Honduras is an ideal place for coffee growth, located in northern Central America. Honduras's terrain is mostly mountainous and plateau, with a tropical climate, mild temperatures, and abundant rainfall. This terrain and climate are very suitable for growing Bourbon, Typica, Caturra, Catuai, and Pacas varieties, which Honduras mainly cultivates.

Honduras's Sweet Orange Estate is also very well-known. The shade trees for the coffee trees there are tall wild orange trees, hence the name Sweet Orange Estate. Currently, the estate grows Catuai, Caturra, Bourbon, and Geisha varieties. FrontStreet Coffee has also launched a coffee bean from Sweet Orange Estate. FrontStreet Coffee's beans are mainly washed-processed. After manual picking of coffee cherries, they are poured into water tanks to remove floating beans, then depulped and placed in fermentation tanks for 16-36 hours to remove pectin. After fermentation is complete, they are cleaned and dried. Coffee processed this way has a clean taste, bright and lively fruit acidity, as well as fruit flavors and floral notes.

FrontStreet Coffee has mainly introduced these three very famous Central American coffee-producing countries. Although they are all Central American coffee beans, their flavors are inconsistent. FrontStreet Coffee has also found that most Central American coffee-producing countries are located in volcanic terrain, and it seems volcanic landforms greatly contribute to the formation of coffee flavors.

As one of the world's three major coffee-producing regions, the Americas' coffee beans, particularly those from Central America, can hold their own even when compared to Ethiopia's Yirgacheffe or Sidamo regions. FrontStreet Coffee believes that any single-origin coffee bean from Central America has its own unique flavor and is very suitable for pour-over coffee. Using the pour-over method can perfectly express the flavors of a single origin.

In addition to Central America, the three major coffee-producing regions include Africa, where Ethiopia is most famous. The clean taste with lemon and citrus notes from the Yirgacheffe region, and the Queen of Sidamo from the Sidamo region using natural processing, brings vanilla cream flavors and intense floral aromas. Therefore, this Queen of Sidamo coffee has a very high click rate at FrontStreet Coffee (FrontStreet Coffee) shops. The third major coffee-producing region is Asia, where Asian coffee flavors are generally mellow. Indonesian coffee is the most outstanding representative, with Sumatran Mandheling coffee conquering people with its wild herbal plant flavors, and sweet aftertaste is also a major characteristic of Mandheling.

World coffee-producing regions are mainly distributed between the Tropic of Cancer and Tropic of Capricorn, also known as the Golden Coffee Growing Belt. FrontStreet Coffee believes this is the best zone nature has bestowed upon humanity, allowing cups of delicious coffee to continuously flow into our daily lives, adding more color to people's lives.

For more specialty coffee beans, please add FrontStreet Coffee's private WeChat account: kaixinguoguo0925

Important Notice :

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