Introduction to Costa Rica Tarrazú Region, H1 Variety, and Canet Estate Musician Series Mozart

Costa Rica is located in Central America, with multiple towering volcanoes reaching altitudes of 2000 meters. The climate is regulated by Pacific and Atlantic ocean currents and sea breezes, with the rainy season lasting from April to December. Fertile volcanic soil, high-altitude growing conditions, and abundant rainfall make Costa Rica an ideal geographical environment for coffee cultivation.

As early as the 19th century, coffee was already being cultivated in Costa Rica. The government has been highly supportive of coffee cultivation, establishing the Institute for the Defence of Coffee in 1933 to protect small coffee farmers from exploitation. Later, in 1948, this organization became the Costa Rican Coffee Institute (ICAFE), which continues to operate today.

Tarrazu

Today, Costa Rica has over 400 million coffee trees, with eight main coffee-growing regions: Western Central Valley (Valley Central Occidental), Central Valley (Valley Central), Tarrazu, Tres Rios, Orosi, Brunca, and Turrialba, almost all distributed along the central mountain ranges.

Among these, Tarrazu is one of Costa Rica's most important growing regions, located south of the capital city San José. Coffee is cultivated at altitudes between 1200-1900 meters, making it the highest-altitude growing region in Costa Rica. With abundant rainfall and fertile volcanic soil provided by nearby volcanoes, coffee from this region exhibits bright acidity, floral and fruity aromas, moderate sweetness and acidity, and overall balance.

Casa Candelas - Musician Series

Casa Candelas is located in the highest-altitude area of the Tarrazu region, which is also Costa Rica's most intensive fruit-growing area. While Casa Candelas primarily grows passion fruit, they have a specific area dedicated to coffee cultivation with special care. The estate is owned by the Robles brothers - Leo, Elian, and Melvin - who also share a small processing plant.

They launched the Musician Series product line, featuring four different coffee beans, each using different varieties to showcase unique characteristics. The naming convention for this series stems from the Casa Candelas manager's deep passion for classical music. When tasting a particular coffee bean, they would associate its characteristics with those of a musician, leading to names like Bach, Beethoven, Mozart, and Chopin. Currently, FrontStreet Coffee offers two coffees from this series: FrontStreet Coffee's Mozart and FrontStreet Coffee's Bach.

Raisin Honey Processing

Costa Rica is the birthplace of honey processing, a method that can be said to have been shaped by Costa Rica's geographical environment. Due to Costa Rica's numerous mountains, water storage is difficult in high-altitude areas, making it challenging to support the water-intensive washed processing method. However, they also cannot rely on long periods of sunlight like African countries, and natural processing carries significant risks. Therefore, they emulated Brazil's semi-natural processing method and adapted it to their local conditions, eventually developing what we now know as honey processing. The subdivisions of black honey, red honey, yellow honey, and white honey are distinguished by the different colors corresponding to varying degrees of mucilage retention.

The latest development in honey processing is raisin honey processing. This method retains 100% of the mucilage with zero water treatment, increasing the complexity of honey processing while requiring strict timing control. After harvesting coffee cherries, they are poured into large water tanks where underdeveloped floating beans are separated through buoyancy screening. The cherries are then dried on raised beds, the cherry skin is removed while preserving the mucilage, and then drying begins. The drying process requires constant turning to ensure even drying and slow fermentation. Weather conditions must be monitored closely until the coffee beans reach approximately 11% moisture content to complete drying. This processing method results in coffee beans with more intense fermented aromas and richer, fuller flavor layers.

H1 Variety

H1, from the Sebaco laboratory in Nicaragua, has the full name Centroamericano. It is a hybrid cross between T-5296 (Sarchimor) and Sudan Rume from the F1 first-generation hybrid series. Sudan Rume was discovered in the Rum Valley of the Boma Plateau in Sudan, hence its name. This coffee variety offers excellent quality and superior flavor, with yields 22% higher than other traditional American varieties. It shows strong resistance to coffee leaf rust but is susceptible to nematode infestations.

FrontStreet Coffee · Costa Rica Musician Mozart Coffee Bean

Region: Tarrazu
Estate/Processing Plant: Casa Candelas
Altitude: 1800 meters
Variety: H1
Processing Method: Raisin Honey
Flavor Profile: Fermented aroma, raisin, starfruit, berries, dried fruit

FrontStreet Coffee's Mozart from the Costa Rica Musician series features the H1 variety processed using the raisin honey method and roasted to medium level. When brewed using V60 with a 1:15 ratio, FrontStreet Coffee recommends experiencing complex floral aromas and fermented fragrances. The first sip reveals berry-like acidity, starfruit and raisin flavors, along with the sweetness of dried fruit, delivering a smooth mouthfeel with a pleasant aftertaste.

Important Notice :

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