Costa Rica Musician Series Coffee Costa Rica Musician Series Mozart Coffee Introduction

FrontStreet Coffee - Costa Rica Canet Musician Series Mozart

Costa Rica Canet Musician Series Mozart

Origin Information

Region: Tarrazu

Varieties: Caturra, Catuai

Altitude: 1950m

Processing: Grape Raisin Honey Processing

Sitting on the Central American isthmus, Costa Rica benefits from the climate-regulating effects of Pacific and Atlantic currents and sea breezes. The country is dotted with towering volcanoes reaching altitudes of 2000 meters, letting coffee cherries grow slowly in fertile volcanic ash soil and cool high-altitude air, developing beans with complete, rich flavors.

Costa Rica has two seasons each year. The dry season runs from December to April, coinciding with the coffee harvest, while the wet season lasts from May to November. In recent years many micro-mills have been established: they need only 5% of the water a traditional washed mill requires, and no large tanks or drying patios, so the investment is relatively small. "Honey processed coffee" — low in acidity, improved in complexity, and rich in sweet aromatics — has thus become a fiercely competitive category in the industry.

Costa Rica began growing coffee some two hundred years ago, initially planted on the slopes of the Poas and Barva volcanoes — what we now call the Central Valley. Today the country has eight main producing regions: West Valley, Central Valley, Tarrazu, Tres Rios, Orosi, Brunca, Turrialba, and Guanacaste.

Tarrazu is one of the country's principal coffee areas, with a long production history — it once won favor and recognition from the British royal family and even received praise in the Pope's speeches.

Canet Estate

Canet Estate sits in the highest-altitude part of Tarrazu, which is also Costa Rica's most intensive fruit-growing area. The estate primarily grows passion fruit, with coffee being quite rare: it is planted in only one specific area and receives special care. All cherries are hand-picked, harvesting only mature red fruit, and after harvesting — but before processing — they undergo an additional screening to remove underripe or overripe beans.

Processing Method

Grape Raisin Honey Processing

This method preserves 100% of the mucilage and uses zero water, which raises the difficulty of honey processing and demands strict time control. On harvest day, the cherries are poured into large water tanks: mature, full fruits sink, while underdeveloped or overripe ones float and must be removed. The selected fruit is then placed on raised beds to dry for at least three days before the cherry skin is removed, mucilage intact, for further drying. At this stage, climate is crucial to the success of the honey process.

During drying, the cherries must be turned constantly to ensure even drying — but the turning frequency must be carefully controlled. Slow drying ensures proper fermentation, yet it cannot be too slow, or the coffee will over-ferment.

Green Bean Analysis

Caturra and Catuai Varieties

Caturra and Catuai are relatively common varieties among American beans, especially in Central America.

Caturra

Caturra is a Bourbon variety discovered in Brazil in 1937. It offers better yield and disease resistance than Bourbon, with shorter trees that make harvesting easier. It is highly adaptable and needs no shade trees — it thrives in intense sun, commonly known as "Sun Coffee." Caturra can be grown from low altitudes of 700 meters up to 1700 meters, showing strong altitude adaptability. Still, the higher the altitude, the better the flavor, though yield drops accordingly — the destiny of specialty beans.

Catuai

Catuai is also an Arabica hybrid, a cross between Mundo Novo and Caturra. It resists natural challenges well, particularly wind and rain. It inherits Caturra's short stature while fixing Mundo Novo's weakness, and its firm fruit attachment is less likely to drop in strong winds — compensating for Arabica's general fragility against wind.

The green beans appear yellowish-green, typical of honey-processed coffee, and smell of fresh orange acidity with a light fermented fruit aroma.

FrontStreet Coffee Recommendation

Beyond the familiar Yellow, Red, and Black Honey styles, some estates have created an innovative raisin honey process — a departure from the traditional hierarchy. The cherries are pre-dried on raised beds for at least three days, first taking on the appearance of raisins, before the skin and pulp are removed and the usual honey-process steps continue. Because 100% of the mucilage is retained, the method is even harder to control than Black Honey, demanding strict mastery of timing — and it rewards the effort with richer hot-fruit sweetness.

FrontStreet Coffee's Musician Series Mozart is exactly such a coffee: grapes, dried fruit, and osmanthus aroma layered over soft acidity and pronounced sweetness. Whether brewed as pour-over, cold brew, or moka pot, it delivers the raisin, pineapple, and floral notes that make this experimental process worth seeking out.