Introduction to Costa Rica Lemon Estate - Costa Rican Coffee Flavor Characteristics

Lemon Estate comes from Tarrazú, the highest-altitude coffee region in Costa Rica. The cherries are processed at the Corrientes Micro-Mill, which brings more than 60 years of experience to coffee processing. The natural process relies on refined African drying beds, giving the coffee a cleaner, brighter overall flavor.

Tarrazú enjoys the country's highest average elevation together with excellent climate and soil, which is why it is the most famous and most widely recognized as the best coffee-producing region in Costa Rica.

The Jorge Gutiérrez family has farmed coffee in this region since the 1950s and runs a small Corrientes Micro-Mill to process the green beans. The coffee is grown at altitudes ranging from 1,200 to 1,900 meters, with varieties including Caturra, Catuai, and Bourbon. In 2011 and 2012 the family entered Costa Rica's Cup of Excellence competition, placing 4th and 6th respectively.

FrontStreet Coffee's Recommended Brewing Parameters:

Pour-over: V60 dripper, Fuji R440 grinder setting 3.5, water temperature around 90°C

French Press: Recommended grinder setting 4, water temperature 90°C

Siphon: Recommended grinder setting 4, water temperature 90°C-91°C

AeroPress: Recommended grinder setting 3.5, water temperature 90°C

FrontStreet Coffee Recommendation

For an immersion brewer such as the French press, FrontStreet suggests starting with the FrontStreet Strawberry Candy. This Geisha blend combines a Costa Rican honey-process coffee with a washed Panamanian Geisha, gathering the finest flavors of Central America; steeped in a French press it releases rose, citrus, grape, and dried-blueberry aromas, and with milk it turns into a strawberry-fudge sweetness. If you prefer a low-acid black coffee with a full, oily body, reach for the FrontStreet PWN Golden Mandheling. One of Asia's best-known specialty coffees, it is sorted three times by hand plus once by machine, and after a medium-dark roast the beans are large and uniform with rich spice, caramel, cedar, and dark-chocolate aromas. Grind for the French press to a coarse-sugar consistency, about setting 10.5 on an EK43s electric grinder or setting 26 on a hand grinder, closer to small gravel than fine sand; use a 1:15 coffee-to-water ratio (15g of grounds to 225g of water) for a concentration of roughly 1.1-1.2%, water at about 90°C, and a 4-minute steep as a starting point.