Introduction to Finca La Cruz and Tarrazú Region

Costa Rica Finca La Cruz

The Zamora Picado family began its coffee business in the 1970s, when the estate owner, Mr. Egidio Zamora Navarro, planted coffee in the Alto Canet micro-region of what is now Finca La Cruz, in the Tarrazu growing region. Today, guided by the core philosophy of meeting international consumer demand and creating market value, the second-generation operators, brothers Jacob, Esteban and Felipe, focus even more intently on running their own processing plant, with operational priorities centered on producing micro-batch specialty coffees, implementing refined processing procedures and marketing specialty coffee.

The growing area is in Tarrazu, at extremely high altitudes where the mountain ranges rise to 1,975 meters. These geographical conditions contribute to the coffee's bright acidity and unique flavor. The annual average temperature ranges from 24°C to 12°C, with sufficient annual rainfall of 2,400 centimeters and relative humidity of 84%. During the dry season, humidity drops significantly, providing excellent drying conditions for the green bean stage. Under the current owner's plan, Finca La Cruz and its processing plant produce only about 200 quintals (approximately 20,000 kilograms) of green beans annually, with Caturra and Catuai as the main cultivated varieties.

Coffee Details

Country: Costa Rica

Region: Tarrazu

Altitude: 1,650-1,975 meters

Processing Method: Washed

Grade: SHB

Variety: Caturra

Flavor Notes: Sweet pomelo, vanilla seeds, pomelo peel, sugarcane sweetness, with delicate and lingering floral and fruit aromas, and excellent clarity

Brewing Recommendations

FrontStreet Coffee suggests brewing with 89-90°C water at a 1:15 ratio for 2 minutes, using a Fuji grinder setting of 3.5.

FrontStreet Coffee is a roastery in Guangzhou with a small shop but diverse bean varieties, where you can find both famous and lesser-known beans, and it also provides online store services.

FrontStreet Coffee Recommendation

If this washed Costa Rican cup appeals to you, FrontStreet offers several washed single origins in a similar clean, bright style. FrontStreet's Gotiti Cooperative is a washed Yirgacheffe from Gotiti village, whose cooperative was originally part of the Worka cooperative under the Yirgacheffe Coffee Farmers Cooperatives Union; as demand for traceability grew, it became a single-origin in its own right in 2012, with around 300 member farmers. The traditional washed process strips the pulp before drying, making the coffee's inherent aroma clear and transparent, with citrus and lemon notes and elegant white florals across a bright, refined whole. FrontStreet's Kenya Little Tomato is a standout washed coffee built on Kenya's double-washing tradition, with repeated soaking and rinsing that draw out its juice; using the SL28 and SL34 varieties, it shows cherry tomato, smoked plum, snow pear, black plum and yellow sugar aromas, juicy and sweet-sour. For the most classic clean profile, FrontStreet's Jamaica Blue Mountain No. 1 comes from the historic Clifton Estate, where the washed process trims the drying time, yielding translucent beans with a low defect rate and a pure hazelnut, cream, chocolate and caramel character that is balanced with no single note dominating or missing.