What are the steps of Costa Rica Red Honey Processing? What are the main coffee varieties grown at Dawn Manor?

Sweetness: A Coveted Trait in Coffee Cupping

Sweetness, a prized quality in cupping that elevates a coffee bean, is also a flavor that countless brewers pursue. When discussing which countries' beans often possess excellent sweetness, many people immediately think of Costa Rica, because farms there excel at using various honey processing methods that bring out elegant, sweet notes.

FrontStreet Coffee Presents: Costa Rica Dawn Estate Red Honey

Today, FrontStreet Coffee brings you a coffee from Costa Rica's Dawn Estate, processed with the red honey method. Join us as we explore the unique character of this so-called "honey processed" sweetness.

Tarrazu Region

Dawn Estate (Cafe Sol Naciente) sits in Santa Maria de Dota, within Costa Rica's Tarrazu coffee region, just 40 kilometers from the capital, San Jose. Its most famous specialty is undoubtedly the coffee that grows here.

The estate lies at an altitude of 1,750 meters and spans approximately 7 hectares: 6 hectares dedicated to coffee cultivation, half a hectare as mountain conservation area, and another half for post-harvest processing and drying. Through mapping, FrontStreet Coffee found that the conservation area next to the plantation marks the starting point of the Los Santos Biological Corridor, which connects to vast national forest reserves. This area features three different types of rainforest climate and provides 14 natural ecosystems for the animals that live there. Running parallel to the Talamanca mountain range, it has become a highly recommended destination for countless hikers.

The Los Santos region is a lush valley formed by three cantons, where nearly every household grows coffee. That is because of its year-round exposure to warm, moist air currents from the Pacific, with annual rainfall reaching 2,400 millimeters and an average temperature of 19°C. These conditions give coffee trees grown between 1,500 and 2,100 meters an excellent environment. Dawn Estate is precisely such a paradise surrounded by pristine greenery; walking through the farm, you'll encounter various rare small animals everywhere.

Dawn Estate

In 1990, Arturo Bonilla and his partner Xinia Martinez jointly bought this land, originally pasture, and began growing coffee. Today the farm is run by the two of them and their families. To manage it meticulously, they have divided the estate into multiple micro-lots, matching appropriate processing methods to the terroir of each plot and striving to create higher-quality, traceable coffee.

In 2015, Arturo and his partner formally established an ecological micro-processing station and named it "Dawn" (Sol Naciente). The estate's logo consists of three important elements: the rising sun, coffee, and nature, each representing their vision for sustainable development.

Since its inception, founder Don Arturo Bonilla has devoted himself entirely to specialty coffee cultivation and environmentally friendly ecological agriculture. It is said that in the first year after establishment, a green frog suddenly jumped onto his back. They later discovered that this frog was in fact a local endangered species. That delightful surprise not only amazed him but also led the estate owner to keep ecological conservation front of mind throughout his coffee farming journey.

Today the estate primarily cultivates three varieties: Catuai, Ethiopia 47, and Geisha. To increase the farm's varietal diversity, the owner also grows numerous experimental varieties. FrontStreet Coffee's current batch of Dawn Estate beans is the Catuai variety, processed with the red honey method.

Catuai

Those who enjoy studying coffee varieties will be familiar with Catuai, as it frequently appears in Central American variety lists. On FrontStreet Coffee's menu, for instance, you can find Catuai in selections such as Elida Estate, Panama Pearl Butterfly, Panama Diamond Mountain, and Honduras Sherry.

Catuai was developed by the Agronomic Institute of Campinas (IAC) in Sao Paulo, Brazil, through artificial hybridization of Yellow Caturra and Mundo Novo, and was released as a variety in 1972, initially known as "H-2077." Mundo Novo, meanwhile, is the result of natural hybridization between two ancient varieties, Bourbon and Typica, first discovered in 1943 in Titiminiros, Sao Paulo, Brazil.

As an F2 hybrid, Catuai inherits Caturra's excellent traits of a small plant size, good acidity, and the ability to withstand full sun, while also carrying Mundo Novo's high yield, strong disease resistance, and excellent cupping performance. Catuai also shows good resistance to natural disasters, particularly during heavy rain or strong wind.

Because of its compact size, Catuai can be planted at twice the density of other varieties, making pest and disease management more convenient. With outstanding performance in disease resistance, pest resistance, yield, and growing environment, it quickly drew many Central and South American countries to introduce and cultivate it shortly after its release.

Red Honey Processing

In freshly picked coffee cherries, mucilage is a very sweet substance: high in water and sugar content, and tightly connected to the inner seeds, the coffee beans. When coffee cherries undergo honey processing, different levels of mucilage retention produce different colors during drying, and the processing methods are named accordingly.

Red honey processing sun-dries coffee cherries while retaining 50-80% of their mucilage, placing it exactly between washed and natural. It is also the most common honey color type on the market. The darker the bean color, the fewer times it needs to be turned by hand. Black honey, closest to natural processing, typically needs turning only once a day. Red honey needs several turns per day, while yellow honey requires turning hourly. Beans processed by the red honey method typically need about 12 days to dry fully.

FrontStreet Coffee observed that red honey processed green beans are lighter in color than black honey before roasting, with a faint fermented fruit aroma. After roasting and cupping, you can often perceive richly layered fruit aromas and a clean aftertaste. Besides prominent sweetness, the coffee combines bright acidity with a light fermented, wine-like quality.

To preserve the fresh, honey-like notes of this Dawn Estate red honey processed Catuai while highlighting the caramelized compounds in the coffee, FrontStreet Coffee used a medium-light roast and cupped it right away.

FrontStreet Coffee · Costa Rica · Dawn Estate Red Honey Catuai
Region: Tarrazu, Costa Rica
Estate: Dawn Estate
Altitude: 1,750 meters
Processing: Red Honey
Variety: Catuai

Flavor Profile: Sweet orange, cream, grapefruit, honey, black tea

In terms of dry aroma, this Dawn Estate honey-processed Catuai immediately releases distinct sweet orange, preserved fruit, and cream-like aromas after grinding, accompanied by pink floral notes, hazelnut, and a hint of fermentation. The aroma is rich and dense, a very pleasant sensory experience. As hot water strikes, the coffee transforms into honey and toffee-like sweet aromas.

Through slurping, FrontStreet Coffee perceived diverse, layered fruit flavors. At high temperatures it first shows red floral, grape, prune, and apricot notes. As the temperature drops slightly, the fruit acidity turns bright and refreshing, with citrus-like aromas dominating the palate alongside subtle black tea notes. The overall mouthfeel is clear with a sweet aftertaste.

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FrontStreet Coffee Recommendation

If this red honey Catuai appeals to you, the honey spectrum is worth exploring further. FrontStreet Coffee's Costa Rica Blackberry coffee uses a distinctive black honey process that removes almost no mucilage and dries for at least two weeks under covers to keep the sugar converting evenly, turned at intervals to prevent uneven heating and over-fermentation. Roasted medium-light, it releases a rich floral fragrance when ground and drinks with grape, berry, and ripe blackberry notes.

For something a little different, FrontStreet Coffee's Costa Rica Mozart is processed with an innovative raisin honey method that pre-dries the whole cherries on raised beds for at least three days before the skin and pulp are removed, retaining 100% of the mucilage. It brings richer warm fruit sweetness, and whether you brew it as pour-over, cold brew, or in a moka pot, you will find notes of osmanthus, pineapple, and raisin.