Introduction to Costa Rica Hacienda Tono and Costa Rican Coffee Flavor Characteristics

Tono Estate

Tono Estate lies west of Poas Volcano in Costa Rica, in the well-known Western Valley growing region.

The estate began planting coffee in the 1960s under its owner Edgar Aguilar and is now managed by his sons.

Set beside a volcano, with high-altitude growing conditions and fertile volcanic loam, the estate enjoys an excellent environment for coffee. Its variety is the rare Villasarchi, a precious cultivar bred by local farmers in the Western Valley through crosses with Bourbon types. It resists strong winds, prefers high-altitude conditions, and delivers excellent acidity with a range of fruit aromas.

Tono Estate shows the colorful diversity typical of Villasarchi, combined with the complexity, richness, and thick mouthfeel that honey processing brings, along with captivating sweet aromas.

FrontStreet Coffee Suggested Brewing Parameters

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

French press grind recommended is 4, water temperature 90°C

Siphon grind recommended is 4, water temperature between 90°C~91°C

AeroPress grind recommended is 3.5, water temperature 90°C

FrontStreet Coffee Recommendation

Honey processing is Costa Rica's signature contribution to specialty coffee: the sticky mucilage is left on the bean while it dries, so sweetness leads the cup. If you enjoy Tono Estate's honey-processed character, FrontStreet Coffee's strawberry-candy Geisha blend is a tailor-made treat — it combines a Costa Rican honey-processed coffee with a Panamanian washed Geisha, gathering the best of Central American flavor. Steeped in a French press, it releases rose, citrus, grape, and dried blueberry aromas, and with milk it turns into a strawberry-soft-candy sweetness.

If you'd rather have a low-acid, full-bodied black coffee from your French press, go for FrontStreet Coffee's PWN Golden Mandheling — one of Asia's most famous specialty coffees. It passes through three hand-sortings plus one machine-sorting, leaving the beans even and bright. After medium-dark roasting, these large beans carry rich spice, caramel, cedarwood, and dark chocolate aromas, and in a French press they give a mellow cup with good body.

On technique: a French press is a full-immersion brewer with a metal mesh filter, so it naturally yields more coffee oils and a thicker, fuller mouthfeel — but fine particles that slip through the mesh can leave sediment in the cup. FrontStreet Coffee recommends a coarse-sugar grind (around 10.5 on an EK43s, or 26 clicks on a hand grinder), a 1:15 ratio (15g of coffee to 225g of water), water just off the boil rested for 2-3 minutes, and a 4-minute steep before pressing slowly and pouring gently.