Costa Rican Coffee Bean Varieties and Flavor Characteristics of Tarrazu Region

FrontStreet Coffee - Introduction to Costa Rica Coffee

Costa Rica's coffee industry started early, making it the first country in Central America to cultivate coffee. In 1820, it exported its first batch of coffee to Colombia. In 1854, British nobility praised it as the "Golden Bean," and coffee has since become Costa Rica's main economic crop. This development elevated the status of Costa Rican coffee farmers.

Main Varieties

Bourbon, Caturra, Catuai, Villalobos, and Villasarchi. Caturra is a single-gene variant of Bourbon, discovered in Brazil in 1937. It offers better production capacity and disease resistance than Bourbon, with shorter plants that facilitate harvesting. However, like Bourbon, it faces the challenge of biennial production cycles.

All Costa Rican coffee is Arabica, processed using the washed method. Its profile is bright and aromatic, clear as wind chimes swaying in a gentle breeze. It features mild acidity and excellent sweetness. Due to its sweetness, it remains delicious even when cooled—a distinctive characteristic of Costa Rican coffee.

Coffee beans from Costa Rica commonly undergo "honey processing" to enhance their fruity flavor characteristics. Honey processing refers to the method of drying coffee cherries after removing the skin while keeping the complete pulp (mesocarp) intact. This coffee typically exhibits fruity flavors or subtle acidity.

Tasting Guidelines

When tasting coffee, identify the five basic flavors: sweet, sour, bitter, salty, and umami, and determine which dominates. Next, perceive its body—is this coffee concentrated or light? If acidity dominates, is its intensity high or low? Furthermore, notice its mouthfeel position—for instance, sour flavors are more easily perceived on the sides of the tongue, while bitterness or sweetness might be detected at the back.

Finally, observe its temporal development—what sensations appear initially, and what emerges after swallowing? For example, it might start bitter but transform into sweetness. Based on these five basic flavors, along with body, position, and temporal development, your tasting abilities will surely improve qualitatively through conscious perception. This is a simple yet practical method applicable to tasting all foods.

Knowledge Point

The country's most famous growing region is Tarrazu, near the capital San José.

FrontStreet Coffee's Mission

In summary: FrontStreet Coffee is a dedicated coffee research establishment, happy to share coffee knowledge with everyone. We share without reservation to help more friends fall in love with coffee. Each month, we hold three coffee discount events because FrontStreet Coffee wants to let more friends enjoy the best coffee at the lowest prices. This has been FrontStreet Coffee's mission for six years!

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