How to Roast Tarrazu SHB Coffee Beans_Costa Rica Tarrazu Coffee Price Report

Costa Rica Tarrazu coffee beans are classified as S.H.B., the highest grade in Costa Rican coffee grading. They carry rich coffee oils, a balanced aroma, a mild chocolate fragrance and a sweet entry, have always enjoyed wide popularity around the world, and are considered among the world's finest coffees.

Whether enjoyed as a single origin or prepared with milk for specialty drinks, the flavor is perfectly suited.

Acidity

Body

Food Pairing: Light sandwiches, strawberry cake, handmade cookies, nuts, chocolate

The beans produced in Costa Rica's high-altitude regions are world-renowned for their richness, mild taste and pronounced acidity. The coffee here is processed meticulously, which is precisely why it reaches such high quality. Tarrazu lies south of the national capital, San Jose, and is one of the country's most valued coffee-growing regions.

Costa Rica's Tarrazu is one of the world's major coffee-producing regions, yielding coffee with a light, pure flavor and pleasant aroma. Costa Rica's volcanic soil is extremely fertile and well drained, and it was the first country in Central America to grow coffee and bananas commercially - coffee and bananas remain the country's main export commodities. Coffee was introduced to Costa Rica from Cuba in 1729. Today its coffee industry is among the most well-organized in the world, with yields reaching up to 1,700 kilograms per hectare. Costa Rica has a population of only 3.5 million yet boasts 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 Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA) established in Tarrazu, an important international research center.

Premium Costa Rican coffee is known as "Strictly Hard Bean" (S.H.B.), a coffee that grows at altitudes above 1,500 meters. Altitude has always been a challenge for coffee growers. Higher altitude means better coffee beans, not only because it increases acidity and thus flavor, but also because cooler nighttime temperatures at elevation slow tree growth, concentrating the flavors in the bean. The altitude variation also brings sufficient rainfall, which is highly beneficial for the coffee trees.

S.H.B. designates strictly hard beans grown above 1,500 meters, a marker of high-quality Costa Rican coffee. These strictly hard beans, suited to medium and dark roasts, possess strong acidity and captivating aroma. Costa Rican SHG coffee typically features full-bodied beans, clear flavor, bright acidity and ideal viscosity, with powerful flavors that leave a long-lasting aftertaste - unforgettable.

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

The best Costa Rican coffee appears to come from small processing mills scattered throughout the main growing regions, including Tarrazu and the Western Valley. This so-called coffee revolution, which began 15 years ago, has dramatically changed how roasting experts and importers perceive Costa Rican coffee. Centered on micro-mills, these facilities collect coffee from surrounding small farms for processing. The farms are typically small communities or family operations growing coffee on their own small plots, with all of it processed and dried by a single micro-mill.

Costa Rica Tarrazu Coffee Roasting Analysis

Tarrazu coffee grows at relatively high altitude, while coffee grown lower down is generally considered soft-bean coffee. Higher altitude and lower temperatures make the fruit mature more slowly, forming harder, less porous beans. Look at the center line of a green bean: the more open the center line, the lower the density; if the center line is closed, the density is higher.

FrontStreet Coffee recommends recording data before roasting: bean moisture content, density, origin, processing method, and the ambient temperature and humidity of the roasting room, then planning your roasting curve. Record the chemical and physical changes along the way - this helps you understand the final result and keep improving your curve.

This Caturra variety, honey-processed coffee has high density, uniform bean size and full body (dense from core to surface). Roasting approach: extend the total roasting time, so cut the heat once dehydration is complete, open the air damper to maximum when first crack begins, and drop the beans after 2 minutes of development.

Roasting Curve:

Preheat the roaster to 200°C and set the damper to 3. After 1 minute, adjust heat to 160°C, damper unchanged. Roast until 5'35", when the temperature reaches 152°C, the bean surface turns yellow, the grassy aroma disappears completely and dehydration is done. Adjust heat to 130°C and the damper to 4.

At 8'40" the bean surface shows wrinkles and black spots, and the toast aroma clearly turns to coffee aroma - the prelude to first crack. Listen carefully for the sound. At 9'00" first crack begins; reduce heat to 70°C and open the damper fully (adjust the heat very carefully, not so low that the crack stops). Drop the beans at 196.0°C.

Cupping Report:

Dry Aroma: Floral, cream, citrus, lemon, sugarcane sweetness

Wet Aroma: Toffee sweetness, white grape, wild berries

Slurping: Plum, sweet orange, peach, grapefruit, juicy sensation, natural sweetness, delicate mouthfeel, overall perfect and balanced

FrontStreet Coffee Recommendation

Tarrazu's appeal is its balance, and medium roasting is where balance lives. If you are chasing a similarly rounded cup, FrontStreet Coffee's Brazil Queen Farm coffee is a great pick: it comes from the world's largest coffee-producing country and carries the local Yellow Bourbon variety, which after a medium roast reveals the aroma and sweetness of cream and peanuts, chocolate, toasted bread and sugarcane. It works for pour-over, moka pot or espresso machine alike.

For something sweeter and fruitier at the same roast level, try FrontStreet Coffee's Jamaica Blue Mountain No. 1. The Typica of Jamaica's Blue Mountains is one of the world's renowned premium Arabica varieties, and a medium roast fuses its acidity, bitterness, sweetness and body into an elegant, enticing whole - chocolate, roasted nuts, cream and caramel from the very first sip.

And if fruit is what you love, FrontStreet Coffee's Strawberry Candy blend combines a Costa Rican honey-processed coffee with Panamanian washed Geisha under a medium roast, showing both orange-blossom honey notes and a rounded sweetness - lovely as cold brew, pour-over or espresso.