Costa Rican Coffee Beans | Introduction to Strawberry Sugar from Mirasoul Estate in Tarrazú Region

In Central America, because the region lies within the coffee cultivation belt, many countries grow coffee, among them renowned producers such as Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, Panama and Costa Rica. Costa Rica ranks as the world's fourteenth largest coffee producer and was the first country in Central America to cultivate coffee. Since 1989, Costa Rican law has prohibited the cultivation of Robusta beans.

Costa Rica

Costa Rica sits on the Central American isthmus, bordering Nicaragua and Panama, with the Caribbean Sea to the east and the Pacific Ocean to the west, and a coastline of 1,290 kilometers. The country combines coastal plains with rugged central highlands and holds more than 200 volcanoes.

Costa Rica has a tropical and subtropical climate with a clear rainy season and dry season through the year. Coffee is grown mainly in volcanic regions with fertile, low-acidity soil. Over 80% of the coffee-growing area lies at elevations between 800-1,700 meters, with temperatures from 17°C to 28°C and annual rainfall of 2,000 to 3,000 millimeters, all of it ideal for coffee. The Costa Rican government also places great importance on coffee cultivation and quality, establishing the Costa Rican Coffee Institute (ICAFE) in 1933 to research coffee varieties and growing methods while promoting Costa Rican coffee worldwide.

Tarrazu Region

Costa Rica has eight coffee-producing regions: Western Valley (Valley Central Occidental), Central Valley (Valley Central), Tarrazu, Tres Rios, Orosi, Brunca and Turrialba. They are almost all distributed along the central mountain range.

Among them, Tarrazu is the largest and most renowned coffee area in the country, and it was also the first region to receive origin certification. Located in central Costa Rica within San Jose province, the region is influenced by warm, moist air currents from the Pacific Ocean and receives annual rainfall of 2,400 millimeters. Coffee grows here at elevations of 1,500-2,100 meters in fertile volcanic soil. Given the region's prominence, Costa Rica registered the "Cafe de Tarrazu" origin name with the European Union and the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) in 2019 to protect coffee produced there. FrontStreet Coffee offers a washed Costa Rica Tarrazu bean as an introductory selection, with light fruit acidity and flavors of sweet orange, nuts and honey, plus a smooth aftertaste.

Mirazu Estate

Mirazu Estate is a smaller coffee farm within the Tarrazu region, run by Esteban Sanches and his family. Esteban originally belonged to a neighboring estate's family, but out of his passion for and dedication to coffee he established a farm of his own and named it "Mirazu," meaning "overlooking Tarrazu."

Estate owner Esteban graduated from the coffee department of Costa Rica's Agricultural University and brought that professional knowledge to the farm. Alongside experimenting with the Ethiopian native variety ET47, he personally designed and assembled the small wet-processing machines at the estate's mill.

Coffee Varieties

This particular bean is quite special, made up of 50% Gesha mixed with ET47, SL28 and MAICO varieties. The Gesha variety was originally collected from the coffee forests of Ethiopia. From there it was sent to the Lyamungu research station in Tanzania, then brought to Costa Rica's Tropical Agricultural Research and Higher Education Center (CATIE) in 1953, where it was registered as T2722. After it was recognized for resistance to coffee leaf rust, CATIE distributed it throughout Panama in the 1960s, where it gained fame.

ET47 is a native variety from Ethiopia. In the 1990s the Costa Rican Coffee Institute provided many varieties to farmers in the Tarrazu region as part of research into leaf rust resistance, and numbers were used as designations to distinguish and identify them.

SL28, for its part, was one of 42 varieties selected in the late 1930s when the Kenyan government commissioned the former Scott Agricultural Laboratories, now the National Agricultural Laboratories, to study yield, quality and drought and disease resistance. "SL" stands for Scott Laboratories, and SL28 was among those chosen. Genetic testing shows that SL28 descends from the Bourbon variety. Although its yield is relatively low, it carries wonderful sweetness and complex, rich flavors with a distinctive black plum character.

FrontStreet Coffee Costa Rica Mirazu Estate Strawberry Candy Coffee

Region: Tarrazu Region
Estate/Processing Plant: Mirazu Estate
Altitude: 1,700 meters
Varieties: Gesha, ET47, MAICO, SL28
Processing Method: Raisin Honey Process
Flavor Notes: Raisin, Strawberry, Candy, Rose, Cream

FrontStreet Coffee's Costa Rica Mirazu Estate Strawberry Candy beans undergo raisin honey processing and a medium roast. FrontStreet Coffee recommends brewing them in a V60 at a 1:15 ratio and 92°C. This method brings out fresh rose aromatics, with strawberry, raisin and almond flavors on the palate. The coffee shows exceptional sweetness and a silky mouthfeel.

FrontStreet Coffee Recommendation

Since these Costa Rican beans carry 50% Gesha, the Geisha heartlands of Panama make a natural next step if you enjoy this floral, honeyed style. FrontStreet Boquete Washed Geisha is a good entry point: grown at 1600 meters in the Boquete valley, where clouds drift between the mountains, days are humid and nights are cool, and the fertile soil of Volcan Baru feeds the trees, it brews into Geisha's signature jasmine, green tea, honey, citrus and orange notes.

FrontStreet Panama Washed Butterfly is another option in the same vein, carrying half Geisha blood alongside Caturra and Catuai, grown in the Baru volcano area of Boquete. The local microclimate brings abundant rainfall and a wide day-night temperature swing, and the volcanic soil with careful harvesting and processing give it excellent body, citrus acidity and Geisha's jasmine aroma. It suits both pour-over and cold brew.