Costa Rica Western Valley | What is the Flavor Profile of Helsar White Honey Caturra from Laura/Elsa Processing Plant?

Costa Rica West Valley | What is the flavor of Helsar White Honey Caturra from the Rola Estate?

Helsar processing plant is considered one of the earliest micro-processing plants introduced since the micro-mill revolution swept Costa Rica, appearing on the market as early as 2007, alongside first-wave pioneers such as Herbazu, Brumas and La Hacienda. The processing plant owner, Ricardo Pérez Barrantes, has been growing coffee in Costa Rica for over 40 years and is an experienced producer dedicated to innovation in processing methods. From the earliest washed processing to the honey methods of the past decade, he has achieved outstanding results. Like other small farmers in the early days, he delivered harvested cherries to medium and large processing plants, and such high-quality green coffee was mixed with general lots for export, leaving farmers only small profits in the chain. This neither motivated farmers to pursue better green bean quality nor improved their standard of living. In view of this, in 2004 the Ricardo family joined the micro-mill revolution and established Helsar processing plant. Initially it mainly cooperated with his brother Marvin and Felipe Rodriguez to process green coffee from their own estate - Santa Lucia Estate. In recent years it has also begun handling high-quality cherries produced by small farmers in micro-regions such as Lourdes de Naranjo and Llano Bonito de Naranjo in the West Valley. In recent years it has earned high evaluations in the international coffee market and a considerable award record.

Costa Rica is a model producing country for specialty and micro-batch coffee. More than a decade ago, many coffee farmers began establishing their own micro-processing plants; by improving their green bean quality year after year and maintaining differentiation from general commercial bulk beans, they have been able to obtain better prices in the market and provide more excellent green coffee. Helsar processing plant is a standard medium-sized processing plant in Costa Rica, not only a model for local processing plants but also remarkably successful in international markets over the years. In 2007 it received a high evaluation of 91.37 points in the Cup of Excellence (CoE), gaining recognition with a third-place finish that year. In 2010 it received 92 points from the internationally renowned coffee rating Coffee Review for three consecutive months, August, September and October. In 2011 it won the championship with 651 points in the Canadian Coffee Masters Championship, and the following year it represented the country in the Vienna World Competition, once again proving the extraordinary value of the green coffee produced by Helsar processing plant.

Coffee Details

Region: West Valley

Grower: Lourdes de Naranjo Rola Estate

Processing Plant: Helsar

Altitude: 1700m

Variety: Caturra

Processing Method: White Honey

Flavor Description: Floral, white wine, citrus gummy, refined and bright, light and lively acidity

FrontStreet Coffee Recommended Brewing:

Dripper: Hario V60

Water Temperature: 90°C

Grind Size: Fuji grind setting 3.5

Brewing Method: water-to-coffee ratio 1:15, 15 g coffee, first pour 25 g water for a 25 s bloom, second pour to 120 g then stop, wait until the coffee bed water level drops to half before pouring again, slowly pour until reaching 225 g, extraction time around 2:00

Analysis: using three-stage brewing to clearly distinguish the front, middle and back-end flavors of the coffee. Because the V60 has many ribs and a faster drainage speed, stopping the water flow can extend the extraction time.

FrontStreet Coffee Recommendation

Honey processing descends from the older pulped-natural method: the skin is removed, then the beans are dried with some or all of the mucilage left on, which shortens drying while avoiding the off-flavors of improper fermentation. Brazilian success with pulped natural caught Costa Rica's attention, and producers adapted it by varying how much mucilage is retained and how long the coffee dries, giving rise to black, red, yellow and white honey styles.

To taste a full-fruit version of that idea, FrontStreet Costa Rica Blackberry uses a black honey process that removes almost none of the mucilage and dries for at least two weeks under cover to keep the sun from drying it too quickly, turning the fruit sugars fully. Roasted light-medium, it gives off a rich fresh-flower fragrance and tastes of grape, berries and ripe blackberry.

For the technique taken even further, FrontStreet Costa Rica Mozart uses a raisin honey process, in which the cherries are dried on raised beds for at least three days before the skin and pulp are removed, retaining 100% of the mucilage. That extra care produces a fuller honeyed fruit sweetness - expect osmanthus, pineapple and raisin aromas in pour-over, cold brew or moka pot.