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Characteristics of Central American Coffee Regions | Tarrazú, Costa Rica - A Renowned Specialty Coffee Region

Published: 2026-01-27 Author: FrontStreet Coffee

Last Updated: 2026/01/27, For professional coffee knowledge exchange and more coffee bean information, please follow Coffee Workshop (WeChat official account: cafe_style). FrontStreet Coffee - Introduction to Costa Rican Tarrazú. Costa Rica is located on the low-latitude volcanic belt of Central America, with the Central Plateau and mountainous regions at altitudes of approximately 800~2000 meters. The climate here has distinct dry and wet seasons. The harvest period runs from November to March of the following year, coinciding with the dry season.

Professional coffee knowledge exchange and more coffee bean information, please follow Coffee Workshop (WeChat public account: cafe_style).

FrontStreet Coffee - Introduction to Costa Rica Tarrazu

Costa Rica is located on the low-latitude volcanic belt of Central America, with the Central Plateau and mountainous regions at altitudes of approximately 800 to 2000 meters.

The climate here features distinct wet and dry seasons. The harvest period runs from November to March of the following year, coinciding with the dry season, which allows for the collection of high-quality coffee cherries with consistent maturity. The dry season also provides ideal conditions for the natural drying process, while the rainy season ensures abundant rainfall. The fertile and well-drained volcanic ash soil provides ample nutrients for coffee growth, and combined with the advantages of high altitude, creates the perfect conditions for cultivating high-quality Costa Rican coffee.

Among Costa Rica's many excellent producing regions, one stands out as particularly famous—Tarrazu, which can also be called Tarrazú. Tarrazu is extremely renowned in the specialty coffee world and is one of the world's major coffee-producing regions. In the 2014 Cup of Excellence competition, 17 out of 23 winning coffees came from the Tarrazú region. Tarrazú is located in the fertile volcanic region of Central America, where there is a humid climate and fertile volcanic rock soil, abundant rainfall throughout the year, high altitude, and dense natural forest shade, providing an exceptionally advantageous growing environment for coffee.

No pesticides or artificial fertilizers are used during cultivation. Nearly 95% of coffee beans produced in the highlands of Tarrazu are Strictly Hard Beans (SHB), typically grown at altitudes above 1500 meters.

Currently, the Tarrazu cooperative has 26 member estates. Among them, La Minita estate is one of the most prestigious coffee estates in Tarrazu. La Minita produces approximately 1 million pounds of coffee beans annually. After careful selection and removal of defects, only 15% of the coffee beans from the entire estate can bear the La Minita estate mark, while the rest flow into the general coffee market. However, even these market-bound coffees are priced higher than other coffees produced in Central America. La Minita's strict management of every aspect of coffee production has established its world-class reputation, making it a globally renowned coffee estate.

Knowledge Point:

Costa Rica's volcanic soil is extremely fertile and well-drained. It was the first country in Central America to grow coffee and bananas for commercial value. Coffee and bananas are the country's main export commodities.

In Brief:

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