Where Is Arabica Grown and Why Does Tarrazu Stand Out?

Costa Rica grows almost nothing but arabica coffee bean varieties, and ICAFE divides the country into eight producing regions: Tarrazú, West Valley, Tres Ríos, Guanacaste, Turrialba, Orosi, Brunca, and Central Valley. Tarrazú sits above 1,500 meters, where cooler air and volcanic soil push higher acidity, heavier body, and fuller aroma into the cup.

Honey processing is where the sweetness comes from. After the skin is removed, fruit mucilage stays on the bean during drying, and the amount left on determines the grade: white, yellow, red, black, or anaerobic heavy honey. Tarrazú washed beans show clean, sweet regional flavor, while heavy honey lots like the Blueberry coffee from Monolithic Estate lean fruitier and more intense.

Costa Rican coffee is known for its cleanliness, sweetness, and clear flavors, and the Tarrazú region in particular is the daily go-to choice for many enthusiasts. From the sourcing perspective of Front Street Coffee, this article sorts out Costa Rica's eight major producing regions and the high-altitude growing background, focusing on the classic flavor performance of Tarrazú washed beans, and comparing them with the differences of the anaerobic heavy honey processed Blueberry coffee from Monolithic Estate. It also explains in detail the processing flows of white honey, yellow honey, red honey, black honey, and anaerobic heavy honey, and includes Front Street's standard V60 brewing parameters, to help you understand how honey processed beans can be brewed to bring out more prominent sweetness and regional terroir.

Let's get straight to the point! If you are a long-time reader of Front Street, you should already have some understanding of the distribution of Costa Rica's coffee producing regions.

Those who are already clear on this can skip this section and continue reading below; those who are not yet familiar with it may as well go through it again with Front Street. According to the classification by ICAFE (Costa Rican Coffee Institute), as Front Street has introduced before, Costa Rica has a total of eight coffee producing regions: Tarrazú, West Valley, Tres Ríos, Guanacaste, Turrialba, Orosi, Brunca, and Central Valley. It is worth mentioning that all producing regions in Costa Rica have signed quality improvement agreements, and processing plant owners promise to accept only ripe cherries, ensuring the final quality. Therefore, you will notice an interesting phenomenon: in Costa Rica, almost only Arabica coffee beans are grown.

Among these eight producing regions, some are located in low-altitude areas, while others are in volcanic zones above 1,200 meters, where coffee usually has higher acidity, a heavier taste, and a fuller aroma. Every Costa Rican coffee selected by Front Street comes from an altitude above 1,500 meters. Take Front Street's most affordable daily coffee, Costa Rica Tarrazú, as an example: this coffee's growing region is also above 1,500 meters.

Front Street Coffee: Costa Rica · Tarrazú Coffee Beans

Variety: Caturra, Catuai

Altitude: 1,500 meters

Processing method: Washed

Grade: SHB

In Costa Rica, rainfall, relative humidity, and temperature tend to decrease as altitude increases, and this difference affects the bean size, hardness, and flavor and mouthfeel of coffee beans. According to the information Front Street has reviewed, Tarrazú is protected by the barrier of the Pacific slope mountains and is a habitat for forests and mysterious birds. Its ecological environment is excellent and very suitable for coffee cultivation. This coffee bean is grown in the small valleys and slopes of the country's highest mountain range.

Tarrazú is located southeast of the capital San José and produces Arabica coffee with small beans, a bluish color, and a beautiful appearance. Local land production is about 650,000 quintals, from about 22,000 hectares of land, composed of small farms averaging 2.5 hectares. Of the coffee sold, 95% is graded Strictly Hard Bean (SHB). These coffees are produced under ideal growing conditions, and the soil is mainly sedimentary and acidic due to its composition. Most plantations are shaded, and different types of trees are grown in the area.

When Front Street selects daily coffee beans, they are almost always washed processed. If you drink coffee often, you will know that washed processed coffee beans have clearer flavors. Because after the washed processing step, most of the mucilage on the coffee beans has already been washed away by the end of fermentation, so the taste of the terroir is highlighted and amplified. This is exactly Front Street's main goal: to let consumers drink the most classic flavor of the producing region at the highest cost-performance ratio.

Of course, many friends do not have a clear enough understanding of flavor, so they may not understand what kind of flavor "the taste of terroir" specifically refers to. Next, Front Street will use Costa Rica anaerobic heavy honey processed Blueberry to compare and analyze the flavor differences between honey processed and washed coffee. As always, Front Street will briefly describe the coffee producing region information of Monolithic Estate · Blueberry.

Monolithic Estate is located in Costa Rica's Brunca coffee producing region. Brunca is situated in southern Costa Rica and consists of Coto Brus, Buenos Aires, and Pérez Zeledón. In this region, coffee cultivation began in Pérez Zeledón at the end of the 19th century, also because the first settlers came from the coffee-growing area of the Central Valley and brought with them a deeply rooted Costa Rican coffee culture.

The Coto Brus Valley is located on the slopes of the Talamanca Mountain Range, which divides Costa Rica into two slopes: Pacific and Atlantic. This makes the region's economy almost dependent on coffee cultivation. Up to now, there are records of 2,600 coffee producers here, involving 75 communities. It is understood that the Coto Brus area has a higher altitude and is more humid. The temperature range is between 18 and 26°C.

Generally speaking, Costa Rica's honey processing methods are standardly divided into several types, called white honey, yellow honey, red honey, and black honey. Next, Front Street will show you the different handling methods of these processes.

White honey: Remove 80-90% of the mucilage Beans are dried directly on raised beds Beans dry quickly at high temperature, and the parchment turns white

Yellow honey: Remove 50% of the mucilage Beans are dried under low wind and moderate sunlight Beans are raked 3 to 4 times a day, and drying can take up to a week

Red honey: 80-90% of the mucilage remains on the beans Beans are dried on raised beds under cloudy or shaded conditions Beans are raked once on the first morning, then only once or twice in the afternoon

Black honey: Keep the mucilage intact as much as possible Beans are dried on fully shaded raised beds Beans are left completely untouched on the first day, then raked once a day; drying may take up to three weeks.

But none of the above is the processing flow of anaerobic heavy honey. The anaerobic process is one of Costa Rica's most innovative processes. It is a semi-industrial characteristic method between washed and natural. It involves putting coffee without pulp but with all the mucilage into sealed tanks to isolate oxygen and strengthen the controlled fermentation process. Then it is placed in a greenhouse for about 4 days, and then on drying beds for 18 days. The temperature is above 21 degrees Celsius.

Note: Drying time and temperature depend on different variables (region, temperature, altitude, humidity, season, shade, etc.). Whether drying beds or greenhouses are used depends on the producer's own processing concept.

Using the same brewing method, let's look at the different flavor presentations of these two coffees. Next, Front Street will give Front Street's standard serving method:

Front Street brewing parameters:

V60 dripper

Water temperature 91°C

Water-to-coffee ratio 1:15

Coffee dose 15g

Grind size (80% passing through China No. 20 standard sieve)

Front Street brewing method: Use 30 grams of water for a 30-second bloom, pour in a small stream in circles until 125 grams, then pause in stages, and when the water level is about to expose the coffee bed, continue pouring until 225 grams and stop pouring. When the water level is about to expose the coffee bed again, remove the dripper. (Start timing from the beginning of the bloom.) The extraction time is 2'00".

Relatively speaking, the overall flavor presentation of the Tarrazú daily coffee is clean and fresh, with round and soft acidity, and a hint of black chocolate in the cup. It is a primitive, classic Costa Rican flavor coffee. Blueberry, on the other hand, is relatively special, with a very clear flavor direction.

Professional coffee knowledge exchange

More coffee bean information

Please follow Coffee Workshop (WeChat public account cafe_style )

For more specialty coffee beans, please add the private WeChat of Front Street Coffee (FrontStreet Coffee), WeChat ID: kaixinguoguo0925

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