The History and Origins of Costa Rican Coffee: An Introduction to the Regional Coffee Bean Grading System

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Costa Rica—whenever we hear this name, do we inexplicably think of Godzilla? Actually, Costa Rica is a presidential republic located in Latin America, bordered by Nicaragua to the north and Panama to the south. Because this region has high altitudes, rich microclimates, fertile volcanic soil, and good soil drainage, it is extremely suitable for growing Arabica coffee trees.

History of Coffee Cultivation in Costa Rica

In 1729, after Costa Rica's first coffee tree was introduced from Cuba, Costa Rica also became a country in Central America that cultivated coffee for commercial value. It wasn't until 1821, when Costa Rica gained independence from Spain, that the local government began to strongly support the coffee industry with a series of policies. At that time, it was more than a hundred years since coffee was introduced to Costa Rica, but about 70,000 coffee trees had already been planted, showing its rapid development.

To encourage coffee cultivation, the Costa Rican government implemented tax exemption policies as early as 1825. By 1832, the local government enacted a law: "Those who grow coffee will own their land," meaning that if coffee farmers planted coffee on any unoccupied vacant land, they could directly own that land. This example encouraged many people to grow coffee, promoted coffee development, and also indirectly explains why most coffee in Costa Rica now comes from private estates.

By 1948, the Costa Rican government established a dedicated coffee department (which is now the Costa Rican Coffee Industry Company ICAFE: Instituto del Café de Costa Rica. It has now been taken over by the official Coffee Committee Oficina del Café), mainly to assist estates in improving from cultivation, post-processing to sales systems. The region is also very careful in handling exported coffee, so the quality of coffee beans from Costa Rica is relatively stable, and the flavors are relatively balanced.

As you can imagine, when production increases, quality becomes uneven, affecting competitiveness. Therefore, to improve coffee quality and its value, in the early 20th century, the Costa Rican government enacted and revised laws: all coffee farms or plantations within Costa Rica could only grow Arabica varieties, thereby enhancing competitiveness. By 1989, the Costa Rican government officially passed a law: prohibiting the cultivation of low-quality beans, encouraging Costa Rican farmers to pursue truly exceptional quality coffee beans. This is why only Arabica has been grown locally in Costa Rica.

It is worth mentioning that this law was jointly decided and implemented by government departments and two renowned research institutes in Costa Rica. These two institutions are CATIE (Tropical Agricultural Research and Higher Education Center, composed of multiple countries) and ICAFE (Costa Rican Coffee Institute). CATIE was established in 1942, while ICAFE was created as early as 1933. They have not only contributed to coffee cultivation in Costa Rica but have also made outstanding contributions to coffee in the entire Central and South American production regions.

Coffee Growing Regions in Costa Rica

Coffee cultivation in Costa Rica is mainly distributed across 8 regions: the eight major coffee regions are West Valley, Central Valley, Tarrazu, Tres Rios, Orosi, Brunca, Turrialba, and Guanacaste.

Specialty coffee growing regions in Costa Rica are mainly distributed in the West Valley, Central Valley, and Tarrazú regions, in areas with elevations of 1200-2000m.

Flavor Characteristics of Costa Rican Coffee Regions

The nutrients from volcanic ash in these regions have created fertile soil. Combined with pleasant year-round temperatures maintained at 19°C, which is quite suitable for coffee cultivation, and abundant rainfall, this has created coffee characteristics in this region that are very pure and sweet, with charming layered balance in both acidity and mouthfeel.

After cupping comparisons by FrontStreet Coffee, it was found that Tarrazú region coffee exhibits excellent cleanliness, with bright acidity, and citrus and berry tones representing coffee beans such as "FrontStreet Coffee Daily Bean Series - Costa Rica Tarrazú Coffee Beans," "FrontStreet Coffee - Musician Series Mozart Coffee Beans," "FrontStreet Coffee - Musician Series Bach Coffee Beans," and "FrontStreet Coffee - Tarrazú Estate Strawberry Sugar Coffee Beans."

The acidity of West Valley region coffee beans is not as pronounced as Tarrazú region beans, and the mouthfeel is more balanced, with nutty and caramel aftertaste. Meanwhile, Central Valley region coffee flavors are very pure and sweet, with charming layered balance in both acidity and mouthfeel.

Coffee Bean Varieties in Costa Rica

Costa Rica mainly cultivates Caturra, Catuai, and Geisha varieties, with small amounts of Bourbon, Villa Sarchi, and other varieties.

Caturra is a variety of Bourbon, discovered in Brazil in 1937. It has better yield and disease resistance than Bourbon, with shorter plants that are convenient for harvesting. It has strong adaptability, doesn't require shade trees, and is suitable for cultivation from low altitudes of 700 meters to high altitudes of 1700 meters. It has strong altitude adaptability, but the higher the altitude, the better the flavor, with relatively reduced yield.

Catuai is a coffee variety artificially hybridized in 1949 from yellow Caturra and Mundo Novo, originally called "H-2077". Catuai has good resistance to disasters, especially wind and rain. Due to its smaller plant size, it can be planted at double density during cultivation, and the short plants make it relatively easy to treat pests and diseases. Catuai grows vigorously, has low height, but is susceptible to leaf rust disease.

Geisha was discovered in the Geisha forest of Ethiopia in 1931, then sent to Kenya's coffee research institute, introduced to Uganda and Tanzania in 1936, and brought to Costa Rica in 1953. Geisha coffee has very delicate floral aromas and fruit acidity, with extremely enticing flavors when grown at high altitudes.

Bourbon coffee was originally cultivated in Réunion, which was also called Bourbon Island before 1789. Bourbon variety was introduced to Brazilian farms in 1860 and rapidly expanded northward to other regions in South and Central America. Bourbon grown at high altitudes typically has better aroma, brighter acidity, and even flavors similar to red wine.

Villa Sarchi is a Bourbon variety, a natural mutation of the green-topped dwarf Bourbon discovered in Costa Rica in 1950, followed by pedigree selection (selecting individual plants through successive generations). However, this variety was not widely cultivated in Costa Rica but was introduced to Honduras by the Honduran Coffee Institute (IHCAFE) in 1974. In terms of aroma, it is a coffee with quite high complexity, suitable for medium-dark roasting. The dry fragrance after grinding carries aromas of floral nectar and cherry, mixed with sweet spices like cinnamon.

Villalobos originated in Costa Rica and is a Typica variety. Like Typica, the angle between branches and trunk is 60 degrees, with bronze-colored leaves. This variety grows particularly well in high-altitude areas and has strong wind resistance. It can also grow in poor soil and grows better under shade trees. The most significant characteristic in its flavor is its excellent sweetness and wonderful acidity.

Coffee Bean Grading in Costa Rica

Costa Rican coffee beans are mainly graded by cultivation altitude. The higher the altitude, the lower the coffee density, and the harder the bean texture. All Costa Rican coffee beans sold by FrontStreet Coffee are SHB grade.

How to Brew Costa Rican Coffee for Best Taste?

In terms of brewing parameters, FrontStreet Coffee uses 15g of coffee powder, with a grind size on the finer side, using China No. 20 standard sieve with approximately 78-80% pass rate. The coffee-to-water ratio uses 1:15.

Through several brewing comparisons, using water temperature of 90-91°C better expresses the aroma and sweetness of this coffee. The V60 dripper is used to enrich the layered complexity of this coffee.

The brewing technique is as follows: First pour 30g of water for blooming, with a bloom time of 30 seconds. In the second stage, pour to about 125g of water, then wait for the coffee liquid to drop. When it drops to halfway, pour the final stage of water to 225g. Wait until all the coffee has finished dripping to complete extraction. The total extraction time is generally around 2 minutes and 10 seconds.

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