Is Costa Rican Tarrazu Coffee Good? How to Brew Sweetness from Honey Process Coffee Beans?

Let's get straight to the point! As a long-time fan of FrontStreet Coffee, you should know that Costa Rica has several coffee-growing regions, right?

For those who already know, feel free to skip this section and move on to the next part! For those who don't, let's review together with FrontStreet Coffee. According to ICAFE (Instituto del Café de Costa Rica - Costa Rica Coffee Institute), FrontStreet Coffee has previously introduced that Costa Rica has a total of eight coffee-producing regions: Tarrazú, West Valley, Tres Ríos, Guanacaste, Turrialba, Orosi, Brunca, and Central Valley. It's worth noting that every region in Costa Rica has agreed to sign quality improvement agreements, in which mill owners commit to producing the highest quality coffee, receiving only ripe fruits, and ensuring that only the best benefits. Therefore, you'll find an interesting phenomenon: in Costa Rica, there are only Arabica coffee beans.

The distribution of these eight producing regions includes some low-altitude areas, as well as volcanic regions above 1200 meters altitude, where coffee tends to be more acidic and aromatic. Every Costa Rican coffee chosen by FrontStreet Coffee comes from plantations at altitudes above 1500 meters. Take FrontStreet Coffee's most affordable daily coffee bean - Costa Rica Tarrazú, for example. This coffee is grown in regions all above 1500 meters altitude.

FrontStreet Coffee: Costa Rica Tarrazú Coffee Beans

Varieties: Caturra, Catuai
Altitude: 1500 meters
Processing: Washed
Grade: SHB

In Costa Rica, precipitation, relative humidity, and temperature generally decrease with increasing altitude, and these differences affect the size, hardness, and flavor profile of coffee beans. According to FrontStreet Coffee's research, Tarrazú is protected by mountain ranges on the Pacific slope, serving as a refuge for forests and mysterious birds, with an excellent ecological environment perfect for coffee cultivation. Moreover, these coffee beans are grown in small valleys and slopes on the country's highest mountain ranges.

Tarrazú is located southeast of the capital San José, producing small, bluish-colored, beautiful-looking Arabica coffee. Their land yields approximately 650,000 hundredweights from about 22,000 hectares, composed of small farms with an average area of 2.5 hectares. 95% of the coffee sold is graded as Strictly Hard Bean (SHB). This coffee is produced under ideal growing conditions, where the soil is mainly sedimentary and acidic due to its composition. Most plantations are shade-grown, with different types of trees planted in the region.

FrontStreet Coffee almost always chooses washed processing for daily coffee beans. As you probably know if you drink coffee regularly, washed coffee beans have cleaner flavors. This is because during the washing process, most of the mucilage is washed away after fermentation ends, thus the terroir flavors are highlighted and amplified. This is FrontStreet Coffee's main objective: to let consumers enjoy the most classic regional flavors at the best value for money.

Understanding Terroir Flavor

Of course, many friends don't have a clear understanding of flavor profiles, so they might be confused about what "terroir flavor" specifically refers to. Next, FrontStreet Coffee will use Costa Rica's anaerobic heavy honey-processed Blueberry coffee to compare and analyze the flavor differences between honey processing and washed coffee. As before, FrontStreet Coffee will briefly describe the coffee region information for the Giant Stone Estate · Blueberry.

Giant Stone Estate is located in Costa Rica's Brunca coffee region. Brunca is situated in the southern part of Costa Rica, consisting of the states of Coto Brus, Buenos Aires, and Pérez Zeledón. In this region, coffee cultivation began in the late 19th century in Pérez Zeledón, also because the first settlers came from coffee-growing areas in the Central Valley, bringing with them deeply rooted Costa Rican coffee culture.

The Coto Brus Valley is located on the slopes of the Talamanca mountain range, which divides Costa Rica into two slopes: Pacific and Atlantic. This makes the region's economy almost entirely dependent on coffee cultivation. To date, there are records of 2,600 coffee producers in the area, covering 75 communities. It is understood that the Coto Brus region has higher altitudes and is more humid. Temperature ranges between 18 to 26°C.

Honey Processing Methods

Generally, Costa Rica's honey processing methods are standardly classified into good to bad levels, respectively called white honey, yellow honey, red honey, and black honey. Next, FrontStreet Coffee will show everyone the different processing methods for these processing techniques.

White Honey:
- Remove 80-90% of mucilage
- Beans are dried directly on raised beds
- Beans dry quickly at high temperatures, with the parchment turning white

Yellow Honey:
- Remove 50% of mucilage
- Beans are dried under low wind and moderate sun conditions
- Beans are raked 3 to 4 times daily, with drying time up to a week

Red Honey:
- 80-90% of mucilage remains on the beans
- Beans are dried on raised beds under cloudy or shady conditions
- Beans are raked in the morning of the first day, then only once or twice in the afternoon

Black Honey:
- Keep mucilage as intact as possible
- Beans are dried on completely shaded raised beds
- Beans are left completely untouched on the first day, then raked once daily; drying time may take up to three weeks

However, none of the above are the processing flow for anaerobic heavy honey processing. The anaerobic process is one of Costa Rica's most innovative techniques. It's a semi-industrial method between washed and natural processing. It involves placing coffee without pulp and with all mucilage into sealed tanks to isolate oxygen and enhance the controlled fermentation process. It is then placed in a greenhouse for about 4 days, then on drying beds for 18 days, at temperatures above 21°C.

Note: Drying time and temperature depend on different variables (region, temperature, altitude, humidity, season, shade, etc.). Whether using drying beds or greenhouses depends on the producer's own processing concept.

Coffee Tasting Comparison

Using the same brewing method, let's look at the different flavor presentations of these two coffees. Next, FrontStreet Coffee will provide FrontStreet Coffee's standard brewing method:

FrontStreet Coffee Brewing Parameters:
- V60 dripper
- Water temperature: 91°C
- Water-to-coffee ratio: 1:15
- Coffee amount: 15g
- Grind size: (Chinese #20 standard sieve, 80% pass-through)

FrontStreet Coffee Brewing Technique: Bloom with 30g of water for 30 seconds. Using a small water stream, pour in a circular motion to 125g, then segment. When the water level drops and is about to expose the coffee bed, continue pouring to 225g and stop. When the water level drops and is about to expose the coffee bed, remove the filter cup. (Timing starts from bloom) Extraction time: 2'00".

Relatively speaking, the overall flavor presentation of the Tarrazú daily coffee bean is clean, fresh, with a rounded and gentle acidity, with a hint of dark chocolate in the cup - it's an original coffee with classic Costa Rican flavors. Blueberry, on the other hand, is relatively special, with very clear flavor direction.

For professional coffee knowledge exchange and more coffee bean information, please follow Coffee Workshop (WeChat official account: cafe_style). For more specialty coffee beans, please add the private WeChat of FrontStreet Coffee, WeChat ID: kaixinguoguo0925

Important Notice :

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