Costa Rican Coffee Beans: Light Roast Costa Rican Pour-Over Water Temperature, Grind Setting, Flavor and Taste

Exploring Costa Rica's Sweetest Coffee Region

Where is the sweetest coffee region in the Americas? Costa Rica! You should know that FrontStreet Coffee has a series of Costa Rican Musician coffee beans, most of which are honey-processed coffees, described by customers as "floral and fruity aromas, with a taste as sweet as honey."

There's quite a lot to know about this honey processing method, and FrontStreet Coffee is here to explain: Due to water and climate limitations, honey processing has become increasingly popular throughout Costa Rica. This "sweet as honey" processing method is actually an improvement on Brazil's semi-dry natural method to enhance sweetness. The key to this processing method is to preserve as much of the mucilage layer stuck to the parchment coffee as possible. This is a precise processing method: the color of the coffee beans depends on the level of mucilage left on the beans before drying. The amount of mucilage is the determining factor for the coffee's sweetness; traditionally, the more mucilage or "honey" left on, the greater the sweetness and depth. According to the proportion of mucilage, honey-processed coffees are further divided into black honey, golden honey, yellow honey, red honey, white honey, and so on.

The Costa Rican Musician Series

As mentioned earlier, the Costa Rican Musician Series. In fact, the "Costa Rican Musician Series" consists of four varieties: "Mozart," "Beethoven," "Bach," and "Chopin." However, since "Chopin" beans are temporarily unavailable for procurement, we won't discuss them in detail. Briefly, this "Chopin" variety has remarkable rose floral notes, tea-like sensations, and sweetness, making it taste much like drinking floral tea.

FrontStreet Coffee's "Costa Rican Musician Series" comes from Canet Estate. This estate is located in the highest altitude area of Costa Rica's Tarrazu coffee growing region. Canet is the name of a small farm in this area—a small 5-hectare estate located in the town of San Marcos in the Tarrazu region, owned by the Robles brothers—Leo, Elian, and Melvin—who have worked together in cultivation and production for over 10 years and also share a small wet processing plant (Beneficio).

Through machine adjustments, honey-processed coffee is produced (depending on the degree of honey processing). This region is also the most intensively fruit-growing area in Costa Rica. The estate owner primarily grows passion fruit, with coffee production being quite scarce. Only a specific area is dedicated to coffee cultivation, where special care is taken to harvest only ripe red cherry fruits. Therefore, the produced coffee receives more meticulous care, harvesting, and processing, resulting in superior quality and flavor.

Next, FrontStreet Coffee will focus on introducing the three coffee beans "Mozart," "Beethoven," and "Bach," and use these three coffee beans to briefly introduce Costa Rica's coffee regions.

The Coffee Varieties

Costa Rica Canet Estate Mozart

Region: Tarrazu
Varieties: Caturra, Catuai
Altitude: 1950m
Processing: Raisin Honey Process
Flavor: Osmanthus, berries, fermented wine aroma, raisins

Costa Rica Canet Musician Series Bach

Country: Costa Rica
Region: Tarrazu
Altitude: 1950m
Processing Method: Raisin Honey Process
Grade: Strictly Hard Bean (SHB)
Variety: Caturra
Flavor: Tropical fruits, nuts, cream, fermented aroma

FrontStreet Coffee's "Mozart" and "Bach" both use the raisin honey processing method, which is slightly different from the honey processing introduced earlier. This raisin honey processing is actually a double fermentation method. On the day of harvesting coffee cherries, the harvested coffee fruits are poured into large water tanks to remove bad beans. The selected coffee fruits are then placed on raised beds to dry for at least three days, after which the cherry skin is removed while preserving the coffee's mucilage, followed by further drying. During the drying process, constant turning is required to ensure even drying, and the turning frequency must be controlled to avoid over-fermentation. This method of preserving 100% mucilage with zero water processing not only increases the difficulty of honey processing but also requires strict time control.

Next is Beethoven from the Musician Series, which uses a different processing method:

Costa Rica Canet Estate Musician Series Beethoven

Region: Tarrazu Region
Estate: Canet Estate (Finca Canet)
Variety: Yellow Catuai
Altitude: 1900m
Grade: Strictly Hard Bean (SHB)
Processing Method: Washed
Flavor: Citrus, black tea, caramel

FrontStreet Coffee's "Beethoven" uses a washed processing method. After harvesting, it undergoes a screening process to remove unripe or overripe beans. Then the pulp is removed, and the mucilage on the beans is removed using a centrifugal washing machine to avoid fermentation. The beans are then washed with clean water and finally placed on shaded raised beds to dry for 12-14 days, with constant turning to achieve uniform drying. Washed beans have a cleaner and brighter taste.

The Tarrazu Region

Although the processing methods are different, have you noticed that all three coffees come from the Tarrazu region? According to FrontStreet Coffee's research, Costa Rica has 8 coffee regions, including West Valley, Central Valley, Tarrazu, Tres Rios, Orosi, Brunca, Turrialba, and Guanacaste. Tarrazu is one of the world's major coffee regions.

FrontStreet Coffee's Musician Series coffee beans come from this region. Tarrazu can be said to be one of Costa Rica's most valued coffee growing areas. The "La Minita Tarrazu" coffee is a local specialty, but production is limited to approximately 72,600 kilograms annually. It is grown on land called "La Minita," owned by the British McAlpine family for the last three generations, with the La Minita estate in the Tarrazu region producing only 160,000 pounds annually. In fact, this land can produce over 450 tons of coffee each year.

It should be noted that Tarrazu coffee cultivation does not use artificial fertilizers or pesticides. Its harvesting and selection are done entirely by hand to avoid damage to coffee beans that can be caused by air jet selection methods to some extent. At the same time, the high altitude of over 1,500 meters means that nearly 95% of coffee beans grown in Tarrazu are Strictly Hard Beans (SHB).

Many customers who visit FrontStreet Coffee believe that since the Costa Rican Musician Series coffee beans come from the same region and estate, their flavors should be quite similar! Actually, this is not the case. Even within the same estate, identical coffee growing environments cannot be guaranteed. Altitude and bean varieties are both factors that affect coffee flavor. If you don't believe it, buy the complete Musician Series from FrontStreet Coffee and do a comparison yourself! Of course, you can now follow FrontStreet Coffee to do a "virtual experiment."

Brewing and Tasting

FrontStreet Coffee Brewing Parameters:

V60 dripper
Water temperature: 91°C
Water-to-coffee ratio: 1:15
Coffee amount: 15g
Grind size: (80% pass-through on Chinese #20 standard sieve)

FrontStreet Coffee Brewing Technique:

Bloom with 30g of water for 30 seconds. Using a small water stream, pour in a circular motion to 125g, then segment. Continue pouring to 225g when the water level drops and is about to expose the coffee bed. Stop pouring and wait for the water level to drop and is about to expose the coffee bed before removing the dripper. (Timing starts from the bloom) Extraction time: 2'00".

Tasting Notes:

"Mozart" Dry aroma: Berry fragrance and fermented aroma. Wet aroma: Entry with raisins and sweet orange. As temperature changes, fermented wine aroma and osmanthus fragrance become more apparent.

"Beethoven" Dry aroma: Berries, tea fragrance. Wet aroma: Entry with citrus and black tea. As temperature changes, caramel and tea sensations become more apparent.

"Bach" Dry aroma: Fermented aroma. Wet aroma: Entry with tropical fruits and fermented taste. As temperature changes, cream, nuts, and caramel become more apparent.

In terms of mouthfeel, "Mozart" and "Bach" have more prominent fermented and fruity notes, with a fuller mouthfeel and sufficient sweetness; "Beethoven" has more prominent citrus and black tea flavors, with a cleaner, crisper mouthfeel.

In terms of aroma, "Mozart" has prominent and relatively rich and complex aromas; "Beethoven" leans toward tea fragrance and is relatively refreshing; "Bach" has complex and rich fermented fruit aromas.

Of course, for some people, the Musician Series may not be the best choice. At FrontStreet Coffee, we also provide blueberry coffee beans from the Brunca region, processed using anaerobic heavy honey method. The dry aroma has a light rose floral fragrance with a slight fermented scent. It has a blueberry gummy bear mouthfeel with a hint of minty coolness in the aftertaste. It's a coffee that tastes excellent whether brewed hot or cold.

Professional coffee knowledge sharing and more coffee bean information, please follow the WeChat official account: FrontStreet Coffee

Important Notice :

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FrontStreet Coffee Address: 315,Donghua East Road,GuangZhou

Tel:020 38364473