Costa Rica Anaerobic Natural Process Yellow Catuai Cinnamon Fruit Wine Feature

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Costa Rica Finca La Ortiga

Origin Information

Origin: Tarrazu

Estate: Finca La Ortiga

Variety: Yellow Catuai

Altitude: 1750 meters

Processing Method: Anaerobic Natural

Costa Rican Coffee Overview

Costa Rica is located in the Central American isthmus, regulated by Pacific and Atlantic ocean currents and sea winds. The country features many towering volcanoes reaching 2000 meters in altitude, with fertile volcanic ash, mild and suitable temperatures, and stable, abundant rainfall - all factors that make coffee one of Costa Rica's main agricultural products.

Coffee cherries grow slowly in the fertile volcanic ash soil and high-altitude cool environment, developing coffee beans with complete and rich flavors. The coffee beans produced in Costa Rica's high latitudes are world-renowned - full-bodied, mild in taste but extremely acidic. Coffee beans here are carefully processed, which is why they achieve high quality.

Tarrazu Region

The Tarrazu region of Costa Rica is extremely prestigious in the specialty coffee world and is one of the world's major coffee-producing areas.

Tarrazú is located in the fertile volcanic region of Central America, with a humid climate and fertile volcanic rock soil. The area receives abundant rainfall throughout the year, has high altitude, and dense natural forest shade, providing an exceptionally ideal growing environment for coffee.

Nearly 95% of coffee beans produced in the high mountains of Tarrazu are Strictly Hard Beans (SHB), generally grown at altitudes above 1500 meters, and coffee is grown without pesticides or artificial fertilizers during cultivation.

Finca La Ortiga Estate

Finca La Ortiga is situated at an extremely high altitude of 1750 meters in Tarrazu, with a cool climate and fertile volcanic soil. The coffee processing facility is equipped with solar power equipment, with 60% of its electricity generated through solar energy collection. The estate embraces technology and continuously updated management practices, maintaining close cooperation with coffee laboratories. This year, they specially created multi-layered anaerobic processing to push coffee flavors to more exceptional levels. After coffee variety classification and harvesting, everything is managed through a series of calculations and planning, using solar equipment for the required electricity in post-processing, ensuring post-processing can be controlled in an optimal, error-free state.

Anaerobic Processing Method

The estate owner places selected coffee beans into specially prepared barrels for fermentation, sealing the steel containers tightly and letting them rest for 18-23 hours. During fermentation, coffee cherries are isolated from oxygen and pressurized by carbon dioxide generated within the steel containers, allowing the fruit to ferment more completely.

During fermentation, pH values must be strictly and precisely controlled, and the surrounding temperature must be well-managed. Once fermentation is complete, the coffee is sent to drying fields for sun drying.

The anaerobic processing followed by sun drying gives the coffee full tropical fruit flavors and a rich texture, with a fruity wine-like note that tastes refreshing and multi-layered.

Yellow Catuai Variety

This micro-lot coffee variety is Yellow Catuai. Yellow Catuai comes from a hybrid of Mundo Novo and Caturra, first cultivated in 1949 by Brazil's "Instituto Agronomico de Campinas" (Campinas Agronomic Institute).

Like Red Catuai (Catuai Rojo), Yellow Catuai has extremely high disease resistance, with delicate and clean acidity suitable for cultivation at high altitudes and windy areas.

Roasting Analysis

Roaster: Yangjia 800N semi-direct flame (roasting capacity 300g)

Preheat the roaster to 180°C, set the air damper to 3, heat to 120, temperature return point at 1'36", 99.6°C; when the roaster temperature reaches 140°C, open the damper to 4; at this point, the bean surface turns yellow, grassy aroma completely disappears, entering the dehydration stage. When the roaster temperature reaches 166°C, adjust the heat to 80°C, keeping the damper unchanged;

At 8'17", ugly wrinkles and black markings appear on the bean surface, toast aroma clearly transforms to coffee aroma, which can be defined as the prelude to first crack. At this point, listen carefully for the sound of first crack. At 9'15", first crack begins, adjust the damper to 5 (adjust heat very carefully, not so small that cracking stops). After first crack, develop for 2'10", discharge at 194.7°C.

Agtron bean color value: 61.4 (upper image), Agtron ground color value: 73.2 (lower image), Roast Delta value: 11.8.

Cupping

Flavor: Cinnamon, vanilla, honey, fruit wine.

Brewing Parameters Shared by FrontStreet Coffee

Recommended brewing method: Pour-over

Dripper: Hario V60

Water temperature: 90°C

Coffee dose: 15g

Coffee-to-water ratio: 1:15

Grind size: Medium-fine grind (BG 6S: 58% pass-through rate on China standard #20 sieve)

Brewing technique:分段式萃取 (Segmented extraction)

Use 34g of water for a 30-second bloom, then pour in a small circular motion to 127g before pausing. When the water level drops and is about to expose the coffee bed, continue pouring to 226g and stop. Wait for the water level to drop and is about to expose the coffee bed, then remove the dripper (timing starts from the beginning of the bloom). Total extraction time: 2'05".

Flavor Description

Dry aroma shows clear sweet spices and fermentation notes, while wet aroma reveals cinnamon and fermented wine aromatics;

On the palate, there are cinnamon, honey, and vanilla notes. At warmer temperatures, fruit wine flavors are prominent. The overall mouthfeel is smooth, with distinct flavor layers and sufficient sweetness.

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