Costa Rica Shumava Black Honey Process Coffee Bean Flavor - What Are the Rich Nutty-Tasting Coffee Beans

Costa Rica Sumava de Lourdes Black Honey

Finca Sumava de Lourdes Caturra Black Honey

01 | Region Introduction

Coffee came to Costa Rica in 1779, introduced from Cuba, though the first exports did not begin until 1820. Today there are roughly 32,000 coffee farmers, each cultivating an average of less than one hectare (10,000 ㎡). Costa Rica had a population of 4.1 million in 2006, with coffee covering 82,500 hectares and annual production of 1.7 million bags (60 kg each). Domestic consumption reaches 380,000 bags a year, or about 5.5 kg per person annually — higher than Japan's 4 kg and far above Taiwan's current average of just over 1 kg.

Costa Rica was the first country in Central America to begin coffee cultivation, and it boasts a long history and a complete system running from production to sales. Set on the Central American isthmus, the country has many volcanoes and the natural advantages of abundant sunshine and fertile land. Pacific and Atlantic currents and sea breezes balance the climate harmoniously, and the resulting coffee carries a distinct local microclimate character. In both quality and quantity, Costa Rican coffee has earned worldwide recognition and ranks among the world's best. Many volcanoes tower to 2,000 meters, letting cherries ripen slowly in fertile volcanic-ash soil and cool high-altitude air, developing complete, richly layered flavor.

Coffee cultivation here began two centuries ago, with the earliest plantings on the slopes of Poás and Barva volcanoes — today's Central Valley region. Over the years Costa Rica has developed eight major producing regions: Guanacastes, West Valley, Central Valley, Turrialba, Orosi, Tres Rios, Tarrazu, and Brunca.

According to ICO statistics, Costa Rica produces roughly 1.6 million bags of arabica coffee a year. Though output is lower than Central American neighbors like Guatemala and Honduras, its quality and price are markedly higher.

Costa Rica has two clear seasons: a dry season from December to April, which coincides with the coffee harvest, and a rainy season from May to November. In recent years many micro-mills have been established. Because they need only 5% of the water that traditional washed mills require and do not need large tanks and drying fields, the investment is far smaller. Honey-processed coffee — with its lower acidity, greater complexity, and rich sweet aroma — has become a competitive target for the industry in recent years. Costa Rican honey-processed beans have performed superbly in major competitions, greatly raising the international profile of many estates.

Sumava Estate

Costa Rica has seven coffee-producing regions, with Tarrazu, Central Valley, and West Valley the three most famous and highest in quality. Finca Sumava de Lourdes sits in the West Valley region, near the city of Naranjo, at an altitude of 1,700 meters. The estate grows Villasarchi and Caturra on 10 hectares, SL28 on 2 hectares, and Geisha on 1 hectare, among other varieties. It is owned by Francisco Mena and managed by Jose Ordonez, who leads a full-time work team. Besides its diverse varieties, the estate keeps large areas of forest as wildlife habitat protection zones, making it one of Costa Rica's finest coffee estates.

Finca Sumava de Lourdes is a relatively young estate. Francisco Mena, originally in the coffee trading business, bought the land and preserved most of the original forest, developing only a small portion for coffee to keep the estate's natural ecology in balance. The altitude ranges between 1,670 and 1,790 meters in Costa Rica's other renowned region, the West Valley, where wide temperature variation and fertile soil make conditions ideal for coffee.

Owner Francisco Mena introduced high-quality varieties that reached the top 13 in the Cup of Excellence, including the Bourbon mutation Villasarchi. This precious variety was developed by crossing with Red Bourbon trees. It resists strong wind, thrives at high altitude, and offers excellent acidity alongside varied fruit aromas. High sweetness and a bright, delicate citrus acidity combine with deeper raisin and nut aromas for great complexity and balance.

Most of the estate is left as forest to maintain the natural environment, and considerable thought goes into management. Rather than burning broken wood, rotten wood, and weeds as tradition dictates, the estate shreds the wood and mixes it with organic fertilizer for use on the farm. From the El Chayote reserve in the West Valley, in the fertile volcanic soil of Poás facing Pacific convection currents and humidity, plus significant day-night temperature swings and an excellent microclimate, this small one-kilometer-radius area has produced four champion estates — truly a place of outstanding natural and human excellence.

02 | Processing Method

Costa Rica Honey Processed Coffee Beans

The honey method, called Honey Process or Miel Process, produces what is known as honey coffee, and estates in Costa Rica, Panama, Guatemala, and elsewhere have adopted it. In short, honey processing means drying the beans in the sun while retaining the mucilage.

Owner Mena employs a distinctive sweet-juice honey method, which he calls "sweet sugar process": the juice released during cherry processing is used to soak the parchment beans. Because the cherry juice carries high sweetness and unique enzymes, the treated parchment beans end up with richer flavor and very complex, positive notes.

The typical harvest runs January to April each year. Because the estate stays between 10 and 20°C, there are often just-ripe cherries still waiting to be picked in April. Put simply, processing methods that retain more mucilage give coffee richer final flavor and higher sweetness. Below is a flavor comparison of several Costa Rican honey-processed coffees.

The mucilage is the part of the coffee fruit highest in sugar and a key component of fermentation in processing; it determines 80% of the nutritional supply during processing. Yellow honey retains 60% of the mucilage, red honey 75%, and black honey almost all of it.

03 | Green Bean Analysis

Green Bean Information:

• Region: West Valley
• Estate: Finca Sumava de Lourdes
• Variety: Caturra
• Altitude: 1,700 meters
• Processing: Black Honey Process
• Soil: Volcanic geology
• Harvest: December to March of the following year
• Flavor Notes: Brown sugar, floral, citrus, pomelo, sweet spices, sweet mouthfeel

Caturra: Varietal Caturra, Coffea arabica var. caturra.

First discovered in 1937 in São Paulo state, Brazil, it is a natural mutation of Bourbon. It is now widely cultivated in Brazil, Colombia, and other Central and South American producing regions.

Yang Jia 800N Roasting Analysis

Yang Jia 800N, with 550 g of green beans loaded:

Preheat the roaster to 200°C and load the beans, setting the damper to 3. After one minute of steaming, adjust the heat to 160°C and leave the damper unchanged. When the temperature reaches 160°C, drop the heat again to 135°C. At 5'40" the temperature reaches 154.9°C, the bean surface turns yellow, the grassy aroma disappears completely, and dehydration is complete; keep the damper unchanged.

At the 9-minute mark, ugly wrinkles and black spots appear on the bean surface and the toast aroma clearly shifts to coffee aroma — the prelude to first crack. Listen carefully for the crack. At 9'21" first crack begins: reduce the heat to 80 and open the damper fully to 5, adjusting the heat carefully so the crack does not stall. Then reduce the heat by a further 50 and unload the beans at 193.4°C.

Cupping Experience

Brewing Recommendations

Light-roasted coffee beans are harder in texture. FrontStreet Coffee recommends high-temperature water at 92–93°C to draw out the coffee's floral and fruity aromas, plus a medium-fine grind (78% pass-through on a China standard #20 sieve). Too coarse a grind cannot extract the full-bodied compounds and leaves the coffee thin; too fine a grind risks over-extraction at high water temperature and a bitter cup.

• Dripper: V60
• Water Temperature: 92-93°C
• Dose: 15g
• Ratio: 1:15
• Grind Size: Fine sugar size (78% pass-through rate on #20 standard sieve)
• Pouring Method: Three-stage pour

Three-stage pour: Use twice the coffee dose in water to wet the coffee bed, forming a dome, and let it bloom for 30 s. Then, with a small stream, pour in circles from the inside out to 125 g and pause. When the coffee bed drops to half the dripper's height, continue with the same fine stream for a third stage to 225 g. Remove the dripper once all the coffee has finished dripping, about 2 minutes total.

FrontStreet Coffee Recommendation

If black honey processing is what interests you, FrontStreet Coffee's Costa Rica Blackberry is the most direct comparison. It uses a distinctive black honey method that removes almost none of the pectin, so drying is longer — at least two weeks — and the beds are kept under cover to stop intense sun from drying the cherries too fast, ensuring the sugars convert fully. The coffee is turned at intervals to prevent uneven heat and over-fermentation, and the method demands more effort than most. The reward is a light-medium roast that grinds into a rich floral aroma and drinks with grape, berry, and ripe blackberry notes.

For a blend that shows what honey processing can do when it meets the world's most famous variety, try the Strawberry Candy Geisha Blend. It combines Panama Geisha — for the classic orange-blossom, honeyed character — with a Costa Rican raisin-honey lot that keeps 100% of the pectin and uses a zero-water method. The cherries are floated so that dense, ripe fruit sinks and underdeveloped or overripe fruit is skimmed off, then dried on raised beds for at least three days before depulping and further drying with constant turning. The cup shows Geisha's floral, tea-like lift together with grape and raisin sweetness, gentle fruit acidity, an almond finish, and clear sweetness.

For a warmer, deeper honey profile, consider Costa Rica Mozart, made with an innovative raisin-honey process. Whole cherries are pre-dried on raised beds for at least three days until they reach a raisin-like state, then the skin and pulp are removed and the remaining honey steps completed. Keeping 100% of the pectin makes it harder to control than black honey, since timing is critical. It delivers richer, warmer fruit sweetness with a distinctive osmanthus, pineapple, and raisin aroma that comes through whether you brew it as pour-over, cold brew, or in a moka pot.