Characteristics, Flavor, and Mouthfeel of Costa Rican Coffee Beans - Are Costa Rican Coffee Beans Considered Expensive?

Costa Rican Coffee: Premium Beans with Exceptional Quality

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Costa Rican coffee beans are characterized by their full body, ideal acidity, and unique intense aroma.

Tarrazu: The Heart of Costa Rican Coffee

Tarrazu in Costa Rica is one of the world's major coffee-producing regions, yielding coffee with light and pure flavors and delightful aromas. Costa Rica's volcanic soil is extremely fertile and well-drained, making it the first country in Central America to cultivate coffee and bananas for commercial value. Coffee and bananas are the country's main export commodities. Coffee was introduced to Costa Rica from Cuba in 1729, and today its coffee industry is one of the best-organized in the world, with yields reaching up to 1,700 kilograms per hectare. With a population of only 3.5 million people, Costa Rica has more than 400 million coffee trees, and coffee exports account for 25% of the country's total export value. Costa Rica also benefits from the Central American Agricultural Research Institute (IAAC) located in Turrialba, which serves as an important international research center.

Strictly Hard Beans: The Premium Grade

High-quality Costa Rican coffee beans are known as "Strictly Hard Beans" (SHB), which can grow at altitudes above 1,500 meters. Altitude has always been a challenge for coffee growers. The higher the altitude, the better the coffee beans—not only because higher altitudes increase the coffee's acidity, thereby enhancing flavor, but also because the lower nighttime temperatures at higher elevations slow tree growth, resulting in more intense coffee flavors. Additionally, the altitude variations create abundant rainfall, which is highly beneficial for coffee tree growth. However, despite the numerous advantages of high-altitude coffee cultivation, the increased transportation costs must be considered, as they can make coffee production unprofitable. Costa Rica's coffee industry has adopted new technologies to increase efficiency, including using "electric eyes" to select beans and identify irregularly sized coffee beans.

La Minita Tarrazu: A Legendary Micro-Lot

Tarrazu is located south of the country's capital, San Jose, and is one of the most valued coffee-growing regions in the country. "La Minita Tarrazu" coffee is a local specialty with limited production of approximately 72,600 kilograms annually. It is grown on land called "La Minita," which has been owned by the British McAlpine family for the past three generations. In fact, this land can produce over 450 tons of coffee annually. However, La Minita Tarrazu coffee is cultivated without artificial fertilizers or pesticides, and its harvesting and selection are completed entirely by hand. This is done to avoid the damage that air-jet sorting methods can cause to coffee beans.

Other Notable Costa Rican Coffee Varieties

Other noteworthy coffees include: Juan Vinas (PR), H. Tournon, Windmill (SHB), Monte bello, and Santa Rosa. Premium coffee generally grows in Geredia and the Central Valley. Another remarkable coffee is Sarchi coffee (Sarchi is one of five towns representing Costa Rica's "Coffee Route"), which grows on the slopes of Poas Volcano, 53 kilometers from San Jose. The Sarchi company was founded in 1949 and owns 30,770 hectares of land for cultivating sugarcane and coffee. This region is also famous for handicrafts, attracting tourists from around the world.

Coffee Industry Organization and Domestic Consumption

The country's coffee industry was originally controlled by the Costa Rican Coffee Institute (ICAFE) but has now been taken over by the Coffee Official Board (Oficina del Cafe). Among exported coffees, those deemed unqualified are dyed with blue plant dye before being returned for domestic sale. Coffee consumed domestically (whether dyed blue or undyed) accounts for approximately 10% of total production, and local per capita coffee consumption is twice that of Italy or the United States.

Costa Rican Coffee Brand Recommendations

FrontStreet Coffee's roasted Costa Rican coffee beans offer excellent guarantees in both brand and quality. More importantly, they provide exceptional value-for-money—a 227-gram bag costs only 95 yuan. Calculating at 15 grams per cup, one bag can make 15 cups of coffee, with each cup costing only about 6 yuan. Compared to cafés that sell coffee for dozens of yuan per cup, this represents a truly conscientious recommendation.

Important Notice :

前街咖啡 FrontStreet Coffee has moved to new addredd:

FrontStreet Coffee Address: 315,Donghua East Road,GuangZhou

Tel:020 38364473