Why Yemen Mocha Coffee is Expensive | Flavor Profile and Characteristics

FrontStreet Coffee Costa Rica Tarrazu Bacha: Wine, Strawberry, and Raisin Sweetness from Black Honey Processing

Yellow Catuai descends from Mundo Novo, a natural cross with Caturra first cultivated in 1949 by Brazil's Instituto Agronomico de Campinas. Like Red Catuai, Yellow Catuai is highly resistant to disease and well suited to high altitudes and windy sites.

Both Catuai varieties have very delicate, clean acidity. By adjusting the process, producers can turn them into red honey, yellow honey, or black honey coffee, depending on how much mucilage is left on the bean. Canet sits in the highest part of Costa Rica's Tarrazu growing region, which is also the country's most intensive fruit-growing area. The plantation owner mainly grows passion fruit, so coffee is scarce here; it is grown only in a specific plot, tended with particular care, and only fully ripe red cherries are picked.

Raisins are always made from ripe fruit. Their moisture content is only 15-25%, while their fructose content can reach 60%, which is what makes them so sweet. That same sugar is why raisins keep for so long. Over time the fructose may crystallize, but that does not affect whether they can be eaten. Raisins can be enjoyed straight as a snack, used in pastries, and in some places even used to season cooking.

Sun-dried raisins tend to turn sour, and the highest quality comes from shade-dried fruit. The seedless grapes of Turpan in Xinjiang, China, are the most famous for making raisins. Turpan's climate is hot and dry, and its brick shade-drying rooms are pierced with many holes in their four walls. Inside, wooden sticks carry the ripe seedless grapes, and hot air blowing through the room produces high-quality raisins quickly.

Raisin honey processing keeps 100% of the mucilage and uses no water. The difficulty of honey processing lies in catching the right "timing": on the day the cherries are harvested, they are pulped with the mucilage layer left intact, then sun-dried. The "climatic factors" during that stage decide whether raisin honey processing succeeds. There must be ample sunlight to dry the bean surface to a shade slightly darker than red honey processing, which is how black honey processing is achieved. The plantation's unique Yellow Catuai black honey lot is called Bacha. It offers rich, layered flavor, a full, oily body, and excellent clarity. Its sweetness is outstanding, and its fruit acidity shifts from berry to citrus in rich, varied layers.

Product Name: FrontStreet Coffee Costa Rica Musician Series Bacha

Dry Fragrance: Cherry, berries, plum, strawberry, peach, jasmine

Wet Aroma: Strong, expressive fruity and floral aroma, sweet and delicate, with lemon, citrus, and berries alongside a hint of mature wine acidity and a pleasant floral fragrance

Flavor: Sweet and colorful fruits, with strawberry, apple, lemon, grape, and citrus all finding expression. Honey and toffee notes are unforgettable. The mouthfeel is silky and cream-like, with the long aftertaste of premium Indian Darjeeling black tea.

Coffee Region: Tarrazu

Annual Rainfall: 1300mm

Grading Standard: SHB

Coffee Variety: Yellow Catuai

Average Annual Temperature: 20°C

Processing Method: Black Honey Processing

Green Bean Specification: 14-17 screen

Planting Altitude: 1980M

Soil Type: Primary red soil

Harvesting Method: Manual harvesting

Flavor Description: Rose, grape, strawberry

FrontStreet Coffee Recommended Brewing:

Dripper: Hario V60

Water Temperature: 88°C

Grind Size: Fuji grinder setting 4

Brewing Method: Water-to-coffee ratio 1:15, 15g coffee grounds. First infusion with 25g water, bloom for 25s. Second infusion to 120g water then stop. Wait until the water level drops halfway, then continue infusion slowly until reaching 225g water. Extraction time around 2:00

Analysis: Using three-stage brewing to clearly distinguish the front, middle, and back end flavors of the coffee. Because V60 has many ribs and faster drainage, stopping water flow can extend extraction time, better extracting the nutty and chocolate flavors from the tail end.

FrontStreet Coffee Recommendation

Brazil is the world's largest coffee producer, and Brazilian beans carry moderate acidity with a fine balance of sweetness, bitterness, and body, which is why they respond so well to medium roasting. FrontStreet Coffee's Brazil Cerrado Red Bourbon, from the well-known Cerrado region, is a classic single origin: medium-roasted, it offers rich aromas of creamy peanut, toasted bread, caramel, and hazelnut, a rounded body, little acidity, and a light bitterness. It works for pour-over, moka pot, espresso SOE, siphon, and French press.

FrontStreet Coffee's Brazil Queen Estate comes from Mogiana, close to South Minas, where fertile red volcanic soil helps the fruit develop a full aroma. Its rare Yellow Bourbon, a natural mutation of Red Bourbon, has a cleaner fruit quality; brewed by pour-over, moka pot, or a home espresso machine, it shows the sugarcane sweetness that other regions lack, along with fruit and chocolate notes.

Because of its low acidity, balanced cup, and approachable price, Brazil is also a first choice in many espresso recipes. FrontStreet Coffee's espresso blends, including the classic blend, the specialty blend, and the dark cocoa blend, all contain Brazilian beans, which add chocolate and cream aromas, a soft sweet-sour-bitter balance, and greater stability during extraction.