Costa Rica Tarrazú Flavor | Tarrazú Coffee | La Minita Estate

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Origin Information

Country: Costa Rica

Region: Tarrazu, Costa Rica

Estate: La Minita

Varieties: Caturra, Old Hibrido

Processing Method: Washed fermentation, followed by sun drying and then low-temperature drying

Grade: SHB

Appearance/Defect Count: Green

Cupping Notes

Dry Aroma: Subtle perfume-like notes, high mountain tea fragrance, candy sweetness, berry fruit acidity with apple notes, grape, clean and elegant aroma

Wet Aroma: Multiple berry fruit notes, caramel fragrance, cream, floral notes, slight spice undertones

Slurping: Berry lime acidity, caramel fragrance, excellent oily texture, subtle apple aroma in the nasal cavity, melon, tea fragrance, grapefruit sweet and sour notes, clean aftertaste with a unique spicy sweetness, the mouthfeel of the finish is not tight and quite saliva-inducing

La Minita is considered a world-class renowned estate. In the minds of some coffee professionals and baristas, it is top-tier. Last year's WBC champion, Denmark's Klaus Thomsen, used La Minita as the main espresso blend and also used it to structure the flavors of creative beverages. This year in Tokyo, competitors indeed adopted it as well.

The McAlpin family began managing La Minita in 1967. It can be said that when discussing specialty coffee estates, "La Minita" is always mentioned! In recent years' SCAA and SCAA cupping courses, instructors almost always mention La Minita when listing mouthfeel or specialty beans. La Minita has not only been popular in Europe for over 50 years but also enjoys a high reputation in the American market.

Exceptional Growing Conditions

Superior Geographical Conditions and Microclimate: Tarrazu is Costa Rica's most famous growing region, but La Minita has two major rivers - the Tarrazu River and the Alumbre River - which converge in the western mountainous area of the estate, providing excellent temperature regulation. The west-facing advantage gives the farm favorable conditions where mornings are not too cold and evenings don't cool too quickly. Rainfall distribution is excellent, with moderate irrigation and moisture from flowering to fruit development. The quality clay layer provides sufficient nutrients, and the average altitude of 4,000 to 6,000 feet ensures sufficient bean hardness and high sugar content!

Careful Variety Selection: The estate grows coffee varieties including Caturra, Catuai Red, Catuai Yellow, and Hibrido (hybrid). After cupping quality evaluation and statistical screening, they now primarily focus on Caturra and small quantities of old Hibrido.

Strict Quality Control

Rigorous Quality Management: They practice crop rotation and tree replacement systems. All coffee trees follow a five-year rotation cycle - after 4 years of harvesting, the 5th year requires cutting the tree to only 50 centimeters high for rest and regrowth before harvesting again! The farm has a total of 1.5 million trees, with an average of 350,000 trees needing rotational cutting and rest each year! Besides rotation, they also replace trees! Each coffee tree is harvested for only 15 years, after which new plants are replaced to ensure quality. They replace 150,000 trees annually, and shade trees are planted around the coffee trees to provide shade cultivation.

The green bean rejection rate exceeds 70%, meaning less than 29% of green beans can be sold with the La Minita estate label.

In the final selection stage of green beans, 30,000 labor hours are required for meticulous sorting. Only qualified beans can use the La Minita label.

Attention to Detail

Meticulous Care: For example, in the three major stages of Harvesting, Pruning, and Processing, very careful handling is applied. During harvest season, La Minita's coffee trees undergo an average of 5 batch harvests because only the ripest cherries are picked. Batch harvesting means increased labor costs and requires great patience. Pruning refers to crop rotation, a system that ensures the land doesn't become overly depleted and maintains peak green bean quality without needing chemical fertilizers for forced fertilization. Processing refers to the post-harvest treatment of coffee cherries. In 2001, La Minita established its own wet mill, also with the purpose of maintaining consistently upheld quality standards.

This year, La Minita's spicy sweetness and berry fruit characteristics remain! The clean and complex flavors generally maintain their consistent style. Particularly this year, more competitors in the Tokyo WBC competition used it as a blend component. Under their various creative approaches, La Minita's fascinating diverse flavors are further showcased. This is La Minita!

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