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

Professional Coffee Knowledge Exchange | For more coffee bean information, please follow Coffee Workshop (WeChat public account: cafe_style)

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

Located in the Central American isthmus, Costa Rica benefits from the climate regulation effects of Pacific and Atlantic ocean currents and sea breezes. The country features numerous towering volcanoes reaching altitudes of 2000 meters, allowing coffee cherries to grow slowly in fertile volcanic ash soil and high-altitude cool environments, developing coffee beans with complete and rich flavors.

Costa Rica experiences two seasons annually. The dry season runs from December to April, coinciding with coffee harvest time, while the wet (rainy) season occurs from May to November. In recent years, many micro-processing mills have been established. Since they require only 5% of the water needed by traditional washed processing mills and don't require large water tanks and drying fields, the investment required is relatively small. "Honey processed coffee" with low acidity, improved complexity, and rich sweet aroma has thus become a competitive target in the coffee industry in recent years.

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

Tarrazu is one of the main coffee-producing areas here. The Tarrazu region has a considerable history of coffee production and has once received favor and recognition from the British royal family, even receiving praise in the Pope's speeches.

Canet Estate

Canet Estate is located in the highest altitude area of the Tarrazu region, which is the most intensive fruit-growing area in Costa Rica. Canet Estate primarily grows passion fruit, with coffee quantities being quite rare. Coffee is only planted in one specific area and receives special care. All coffee cherries are hand-picked, harvesting only mature red cherries. However, after harvesting and before processing, they undergo an additional screening process to remove underripe or overripe beans.

Processing Method

Grape Raisin Honey Processing

This method preserves 100% of the mucilage and uses zero water processing, which increases the difficulty of honey processing and requires strict time control. On the day of harvesting coffee cherries, the harvested coffee fruits are poured into large water tanks. Mature, full fruits will sink to the bottom, while underdeveloped or overripe fruits will float to the surface - these floating beans must be removed. The selected coffee fruits are placed on raised beds to dry for at least three days, then the cherry skin is removed while preserving the mucilage before further drying. At this stage, climate factors are crucial to the success of honey processing.

During the drying process, these coffee cherries must be constantly turned to ensure even drying, but the turning frequency must be carefully controlled. Slow drying ensures proper fermentation treatment for the coffee, but it cannot be too slow to avoid over-fermentation.

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 production capacity and disease resistance than Bourbon, with shorter trees that facilitate harvesting. It has strong adaptability and doesn't require shade trees - it can thrive directly under intense sun, commonly known as "Sun Coffee." Caturra is suitable for cultivation from low altitudes of 700 meters to high altitudes of 1700 meters, showing strong altitude adaptability. However, the higher the altitude, the better the flavor, though production capacity relatively decreases - this is the destiny of specialty beans.

Catuai

Catuai is also an Arabica hybrid variety, a cross between Mundo Novo and Caturra. It has better resistance to natural disasters, particularly against wind and rain. It inherits the advantage of Caturra's short tree height, addressing Mundo Novo's shortcomings. Another advantage is its firm fruit set, which is less likely to fall off in strong winds, compensating for Arabica's weakness against wind.

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

Important Notice :

前街咖啡 FrontStreet Coffee has moved to new addredd:

FrontStreet Coffee Address: 315,Donghua East Road,GuangZhou

Tel:020 38364473