Costa Rica Western Valley | Laura/Elsa Processing Plant Helsar White Honey Caturra Flavor?

Costa Rica West Valley | Flavour Characteristics of Helsar White Honey Caturra from the Rola/Elsa Mill

Helsar Mill was one of the first micro-mills introduced to Taiwan after Costa Rica's micro-mill revolution began. It appeared on the market as early as 2007, sharing its fame with the pioneers of that first wave of reform, such as Herbazu, Brumas, and Las Lajas. The mill's owner, Ricardo Pérez Barrantes, has been growing coffee in Costa Rica for over 40 years and is an experienced producer dedicated to innovating processing methods; he has shown exceptional results from early washed processing through to the honey processing of recent years. Like other smallholders in the past, his harvested cherries were delivered to medium and large mills, where high-quality green beans like his were mixed with general batches for export. Farmers could earn only a minimal share along the chain, which gave them no incentive to pursue better green bean quality and could not improve their standard of living. In light of this, the Ricardo family joined the micro-mill revolution in 2004 and established Helsar Mill. At first it mainly partnered with his brother Marvin and Felipe Rodriguez to process green beans from their own Santa Lucia estate, but in recent years it has also begun handling high-quality cherries produced by smallholders in such micro-regions as Lourdes de Naranjo and Llano Bonito de Naranjo in the West Valley. It has since received high marks and a considerable award record in the international coffee market.

Costa Rica is a model producing country for specialty and micro-lot coffee. More than a decade ago, many coffee farmers began establishing their own micro-mills; by improving bean quality year after year, they maintained a clear distinction from ordinary commercial bulk beans, which let them obtain better prices and supply more excellent green beans. Helsar Mill is a standard medium-sized mill, a model for local mills and a notable international success over the years. In 2007 it earned a high score of 91.37 points in the Cup of Excellence and was recognised with a third-place finish that year. In 2010 the internationally renowned Coffee Review awarded it 92 points for three consecutive months, in August, September, and October. In 2011 it won the Canadian Coffee Masters Championship with 651 points, and the following year it represented the country at the Vienna world competition, once again proving the extraordinary value of the green beans produced at Helsar Mill.

Coffee Information

Region: West Valley

Producer: Rola Estate

Mill: Helsar

Altitude: 1700M

Variety: Caturra

Processing: White Honey

Flavour description: floral, white wine, citrus gummy, delicate and bright, light and lively acidity.

FrontStreet Coffee's Recommended Brewing

Dripper: Hario V60

Water temperature: 90 degrees C

Grind size: Fuji Rokusho grind setting 3.5

Brewing method: water-to-coffee ratio 1:15, 15g of coffee. First pour 25g of water and bloom for 25s, then pour to 120g and pause. Wait until the water level in the coffee bed drops to half before continuing to pour slowly up to 225g, for an extraction time of around 2:00.

Analysis

A three-stage brewing method clearly distinguishes the front, middle, and back-end flavours of the coffee. Because the V60 has many ribs and drains quickly, pausing during the pour helps extend the extraction time.

FrontStreet Coffee Recommendation

White honey is one of the lightest points on the honey-processing spectrum, and it is that gentle, clean sweetness this Costa Rican coffee shows so well. If you enjoy the trend, FrontStreet Coffee's Costa Rica Blackberry uses a black honey process that leaves almost none of the mucilage removed and dries for at least two weeks under cover to keep the sun from drying it too fast; medium-light roasted, it gives off an intense floral aroma when ground and tastes of grape, berry, and ripe blackberry.

For a fruitier, more aromatic cup, FrontStreet Coffee's Strawberry Candy blends Panamanian Geisha with a Costa Rican coffee processed as raisin honey, where the whole mucilage is retained and no water is used. The Geisha supplies the classic orange-blossom honey character and the Costa Rican side brings grape and raisin notes, soft fruit acidity, and an almond finish with pronounced sweetness. FrontStreet Coffee's Costa Rica Mozart, meanwhile, is an innovative raisin honey lot that pre-dries the cherries on raised beds for at least three days before depulping, bringing rich sweet fruit aromas of osmanthus, pineapple, and raisin to a pour-over, cold brew, or moka pot.