Pour-Over Guide for Costa Rican Coffee Beans: How to Brew Honey-Processed Beans to Perfection

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FrontStreet Coffee Musician Series Introduction: Mozart

Meet today's headliner: Mozart. This bean is remarkable in both its dry and wet aroma, and a fragrance this distinctive is rare.

Its processing method is just as interesting. Known as "Raisin Honey Processing," it keeps 100% of the mucilage and uses zero water, which makes the honey process far more demanding and calls for strict timing control.

On harvest day the cherries go into large water tanks. Ripe, full fruit sinks; underdeveloped or overripe fruit floats and must be skimmed off. The selected cherries are spread on raised beds to dry for at least three days, after which the skin is removed while the mucilage stays intact for further drying. At this stage the weather decides whether the honey process succeeds. Throughout drying the cherries must be turned regularly for even moisture loss, yet the frequency has to be controlled: slow enough for proper fermentation, never so slow that it over-ferments.

Brewing Share

Today FrontStreet Coffee brewed with a Hario V60. The V60 is a dripper the team reaches for often. Because its design is built around how quickly the water level falls, the interior ribs form a curved, vortex-like pattern that speeds the flow along. That makes water flow rate and water level height more critical than usual. FrontStreet typically pairs this dripper with a staged extraction, which slows the coffee down and lifts the extraction from the bed.

The brewing parameters stay the same. Only the technique changes.

Parameters: 15g coffee grounds; medium-fine grind (BG 6M: 58% pass-through on the China standard #20 sieve); water temperature 90°C; coffee-to-water ratio 1:15

Brewing Method 1

Bloom with 28g of water for 30 seconds, then pour in a small circular stream to 122g for the first stage. When the water level drops to just before the coffee bed is exposed, switch to a slightly larger flow in circular motions and pour to 230g. Remove the dripper when the water is about to expose the bed. (Time from the start of the bloom.) Extraction time: 1'56".

Flavor: The wet aroma is osmanthus and a fermented fragrance. The cup opens with citrus and strawberry acidity, then shifts into caramel, raisin and preserved-fruit sweetness, with a sugarcane aftertaste. The overall profile is well balanced with a fairly full body.

Brewing Method 2

Bloom with 28g of water for 30 seconds, then pour in a small circular stream relatively quickly to 121g for the first stage. When the water level drops to just before the coffee bed is exposed, increase the flow and pour in circular motions to 227g. Remove the dripper when the water is about to expose the bed. (Time from the start of the bloom.) Extraction time: 1'45".

Flavor: The wet aroma is osmanthus. The cup shows strawberry, citrus and tropical fruit, with prominent caramel and preserved-fruit sweetness. The body is lighter overall, giving a refreshing sensation.

END

FrontStreet Coffee Recommendation

Mozart belongs to FrontStreet's Musician Series, and its raisin-forward character is exactly why it earned a spot in the V60 lineup. FrontStreet keeps a resin Hario V60 on the shelf for beans like this: the resin insulates better, holding heat through the pour, and it is also the most consistent shape to mass-produce, so every unit brews the same way.

The V60's 60° cone and single large hole send water to the centre before it drops, extending contact with the grounds and drawing out aroma and flavour, while flow rate is left almost entirely to the brewer's control. That speed suits aromatic, fruit-forward coffees. Alongside Mozart's dried fruit and caramel, FrontStreet's other floral-and-fruity picks for the V60 include Gutingding Yirgacheffe with its classic citrus-and-jasmine profile, Huakui with its big tropical fruit, and Strawberry Candy with its Geisha-like strawberry sweetness.