Where Do Costa Coffee Beans Come From in Tarrazú?

The San Román washed lot comes from Tarrazú, Costa Rica's largest growing region and the one closest to the capital, San Jose. Its high average altitude, climate, and soil make it the country's most recognized area. Medium-dark roasted, the coffee shows berries, caramel, cream, and light spice with a full body and layered structure.

San Román cherries are hand-sorted to remove overripe and underripe fruit, then pulped on a 3-disc Aagaarde depulper before washing. For pour-over, use 15 g at a medium grind, water at 88-89°C, a 1:15 ratio, a 27-second bloom, and a total extraction of about two minutes. La Minita, in Tarrazú, is the region's well-known single estate, producing only 160,000 pounds a year.

Costa Rica's Tarrazu region is renowned for its superior natural conditions and is widely recognized as a top-tier coffee-producing area. The San Roman processing plant, located in this region, primarily uses the washed process, and its coffees boast intense, rich flavor expression with a full body. Front Street Coffee's Costa Rica San Roman Royal Coffee comes from here; after a medium-dark roast, it presents a complex aroma of berries, caramel, cream, and subtle spice. This article will outline the terroir background of the Tarrazu region, the graded fermentation process at the San Roman processing plant, and the development trajectory of Costa Rica's coffee industry, along with the specific parameters for Front Street's pour-over brewing of these beans, for coffee enthusiasts' reference.

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Tarrazu is the largest and most renowned growing region in Costa Rica closest to the capital, San Jose. Its average altitude is the highest among all Costa Rican regions, and combined with ideal climate and soil conditions, Tarrazu has become the country's most famous and widely regarded as its finest major region. Tres Rios is a well-known sub-region within Tarrazu. In the specialty coffee world, Costa Rica's most famous single estate is La Minita, located in the Tarrazu area, with an annual output of only 160,000 pounds.

When brewing Front Street's Costa Rica San Roman via pour-over, the following recipe can be used as a reference: take 15 grams of coffee grounds, medium grind (Fuji ghost burr setting 4), use a V60 dripper, and control the water temperature at 88 to 89 degrees Celsius. First pour 30 grams of water and let it bloom for 27 seconds; then pour until 105 grams and pause, waiting for the water level in the coffee bed to drop by half before continuing to pour, maintaining a slow stream until the total water reaches 225 grams, discarding the final drips. The water-to-coffee ratio is 1:15, and the total extraction time is about 2 minutes.

The San Roman processing plant primarily uses the washed process, and its coffees are known for intense flavor, rich layers, and a solid body. The coffee cherries first undergo manual sorting, where farmers remove overripe or underripe fruit, before entering the formal processing stage. A 3-disc Aagaarde depulper is first used to remove the skin and pulp, and then the beans are sorted into three grades by density using a machine. Grade 1 and Grade 2 green beans are fermented separately, while Grade 3 consists of lower-quality beans. The green beans are fermented in a cool environment for about 24 to 36 hours. After fermentation, they are washed and graded again by density in the washing channel, after which the beans are randomly soaked in clean water overnight. Once processed and roasted, the coffee reveals a bittersweet chocolate-like flavor, a creamy toffee-like sweetness with a full body, and a restrained winey acidity, with an aromatic fragrance and an unforgettable fruity sweetness of chocolate beans.

Costa Rica has fertile volcanic ash from its volcanic terrain, mild and comfortable temperatures, and stable, abundant rainfall—conditions that together have made coffee one of the country's main agricultural products. The country's seven major coffee regions are: Tarrazu, Tres Rios, Orosi, Central Valley, West Valley, Turrialba, and Brunca.

FrontStreet Coffee Costa Rica San Roman Processing Plant Royal Coffee

Costa Rica San Ramon Royal Coffee

Country: Costa Rica

Grade: SHB

Altitude: 1700M

Region: Tarrazu

Roast Level: Medium-Dark Roast

Processing Method: Washed Process

Variety: Caturra, Catuai

Processing Plant: San Roman Processing Plant

Flavor: Berry aroma, caramel, cream, subtle spice

Costa Rica's most outstanding coffees often come from small processing plants, which are widely distributed across major regions such as Tarrazu and the West Valley. This change, known as the coffee revolution, began 15 years ago and significantly overturned roasters' and importers' preconceptions about Costa Rican coffee. These processing plants operate as the hub, purchasing coffee cherries from surrounding small farms for processing. Most of these farms are run by small communities or families, growing coffee on their own small plots or farms, with all harvested cherries uniformly delivered to a single small processing plant for processing and drying. The reason Front Street's Royal Coffee is so distinctive in both quality and flavor is largely due to the close collaboration between coffee producers and us.

Coffee cultivation in Costa Rica was first introduced from Cuba in 1779, and the country only achieved its first exports in 1820. Currently, there are about 32,000 coffee farmers in the country, with an average cultivation area of less than one hectare (10,000 square meters) per farmer. In 2006, Costa Rica's population was 4,100,000, with a coffee cultivation area of 82,500 hectares, an annual output of 1.7 million bags (60 kg each), domestic annual consumption of 380,000 bags, and a national per capita annual consumption of 5.5 kg—even higher than Japan's 4 kg, while Taiwan region's current per capita consumption is only slightly above 1 kg.

Costa Rica was the first country in Central America to have coffee introduced for cultivation, with a deep historical heritage and a highly complete coffee organization system spanning from production to sales. Due to its location in the Central American isthmus, the country has many volcanoes, natural advantages of sunshine and land, and a climate regulated by both Pacific and Atlantic ocean currents and sea breezes, giving its coffee distinctive local microclimatic terroir characteristics. In both quality and quantity, Costa Rican coffee has always been globally recognized and hailed as one of the world's high-quality coffees. The country has a 200-year history of coffee cultivation, initially planted on the slopes of Poas and Barva volcanoes, in what is now known as the Central Valley region. The seven major coffee regions are distributed from northwest to southeast along the inland Central Plateau.

Factory Name: FrontStreet Coffee Factory Address: Yandun Road, Dongshankou, Yuexiu District, Guangzhou City Factory Contact: 020-38364473 Shelf Life: 30 Net Content: 227g Packaging Method: Bulk Taste: Mellow Coffee Bean Roast Level: Roasted Coffee Beans Contains Sugar: No Sugar Origin: Costa Rica Coffee Type: Costa Rican Coffee Roast Level: Medium Roast

Flavor Description: Berry aroma, caramel, cream, subtle spice.

In Costa Rica, coffee farming is a relatively high-end profession, and coffee farmers enjoy considerably high social status. In 1897, capital city residents witnessed the donation from coffee tycoons represented by the completion of the National Theatre. Coffee wealth brought stability to Costa Rica's politics, economy, and democracy—a rarity among Central American countries. In addition, Costa Rican law only permits the cultivation of Arabica; Robusta is considered "contraband" within the country, a measure unique in the world.

Costa Rica's coffee output is not particularly large, at about 110,000 tons per year, ranking seventh in Central and South America. The country mainly grows newer coffee varieties, such as Caturra, Catuai, and Mundo Novo, while the older Bourbon and Typica are rarely seen. Many variants have also emerged within the country, the most famous being the Bourbon variant Villa Sarchi, an elegant-flavored variety that Brazil has also introduced and planted with award-winning results. In addition, Costa Rican research institutions have been working to improve the hybrid variety Catimor, attempting to reduce its Robusta lineage while enhancing its Arabica flavor; in recent years, it has been exported to Asia for trial planting.

The above content is compiled by CoffeeHunters, a coffee news website.