Are American Coffee Beans Good? An Introduction to Costa Rican Coffee Bean Cultivation, Flavors, and Origins

American coffee holds a significant position in the coffee industry. Countries like Panama, Colombia, and Guatemala are all major producers of high-quality coffee in the Americas. Not to mention that coffee has become increasingly specialized in the past decade, with consumers demanding higher and higher quality coffee. Several countries in the Americas that produce high-quality coffee have become places that everyone dreams of visiting. Panama and Geisha have shocked the entire specialty coffee circle, and the combination of timing, location, and people has created the reputation of Panamanian coffee today. If you want to find another producing country that can rival Panama, you might as well start from neighboring countries. Starting from Panama and heading northwest, you'll find another famous coffee-producing country in the Americas - Costa Rica.

Geographically, Costa Rica borders Nicaragua to the north and Panama to the south. On November 17, 1983, it declared itself a permanently neutral country. According to its constitution, Costa Rica does not have an army; only police and security forces maintain internal security, making it the first country in the world without an army. Although Costa Rica is an agricultural country, it has achieved a relatively high standard of living, with widespread land ownership and a booming tourism industry. At the same time, due to its position as a cultural crossroads between Central and South America, it possesses diverse cultures. From the 1820s, Costa Rica began to promote coffee cultivation on a large scale, and now it has a history of nearly two hundred years. As one of Costa Rica's most important exported agricultural products, coffee beans receive strong support, promotion, and protection from the state.

Costa Rica is located in the Central American isthmus and belongs to North America. As mentioned by FrontStreet Coffee earlier, Costa Rica is close to Panama, with Nicaragua to its north, the Caribbean Sea to the northeast, and the Pacific Ocean to the south. Influenced by ocean currents such as the Pacific Ocean and monsoons, Costa Rica has formed a unique microclimate. Costa Rica's year is divided into dry and rainy seasons. The rainy season is approximately from April to November, while December to March of the following year is the dry season. Coffee trees planted in Costa Rica generally bloom from April to June, and from July to February of the following year, the fruits mature and are harvested. The rainy season provides sufficient rainfall to help coffee trees grow, while fruit picking coincides with the dry season, making it convenient to harvest coffee fruits with consistent maturity. At the same time, it provides long hours of sunlight for natural drying conditions.

Although Costa Rica has a small land area, it is indeed one of the most species-rich countries in the world, with abundant natural resources. As its name suggests, it means "rich coast." The coastal terrain of Costa Rica consists of plains, while the central part is separated by rugged mountains. Among them, there are seven representative producing regions: West Valley, Central Valley, Tarrazu, Tres Rios, Orosi, Brunca, and Turrialba. Among these, the Tarrazu region is the most representative, located south of Costa Rica's capital San José, and is the most valued coffee-producing region. Most of Costa Rica's highest quality coffee comes from this sub-region. Taking this year's 2020 Costa Rica Cup of Excellence results as an example, 9 out of the top 26 coffee beans came from the Tarrazu region, with three of them taking the top three places. It's clear that the Tarrazu region is a veteran in producing high-quality coffee.

Common Coffee Processing Methods in Costa Rica

Common processing methods in Costa Rica include washed processing, natural processing, and the highly representative honey processing. Washed processing removes the skin and pulp of the coffee fruit, removes the mucilage layer through water tank fermentation, and then sun-dries. Natural processing retains the complete fruit for sun-drying before removing the skin, pulp, and mucilage parts. Honey processing falls between these two methods. Honey processing starts like the first two steps of washed processing - first floating the coffee fruits and removing the skin and pulp. However, it does not undergo water tank fermentation to remove the mucilage layer; instead, it is sun-dried while retaining the mucilage. Based on the amount of mucilage retained, it is divided into yellow honey, red honey, and black honey. Since the mucilage part is relatively sticky and has a high sugar content, during the processing process, the mucilage wraps around the raw coffee beans like honey, so people vividly call this layer of coffee mucilage "honey," hence the name "honey processing."

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