What Does Honey-Processed Geisha Coffee From Tarrazu Taste Like?

Costa Rican coffee from the Tarrazu region is known for honey-like sweetness, balanced chocolate notes, and a smooth mouthfeel, helped by volcanic soil and a favorable microclimate. The Mirazu Estate Strawberry Candy Geisha uses a raisin honey process and blends Geisha, ET47, SL28, and MAICO, giving jasmine florals alongside fermented strawberry sweetness.

Costa Rica was the first country in Central America to introduce coffee cultivation, with harvest running from November to March. The Central Plateau sits at 1,200 to 1,600 meters, and three high-altitude volcanoes, Irazu, Barva, and Poas, feed the soil. Tarrazu, south of San Jose, supplies much of the country's specialty coffee.

Costa Rican coffee is renowned for its honey-like sweetness, especially beans from the Tarrazu region, which, thanks to volcanic soil and microclimates, present a balanced, rich chocolate and smooth mouthfeel. This time, Front Street Coffee brings the Mirazu Estate Strawberry Candy Geisha blend, using the raisin honey process, combining four varieties: Geisha, ET47, SL28, and MAICO. It has both jasmine floral notes and the fermented sweetness of strawberry berries. This article will delve into the background of the Costa Rican region, the story of Mirazu Estate, the raisin honey process, and share Front Street's roasting curve, cupping report, and pour-over recommendations to help coffee lovers brew a sweet and delicious cup at home.

Costa Rican coffee, with its honey-like sweetness, leaves many coffee lovers unforgettable. Often, customers come to Front Street Coffee and ask the baristas if there are pour-over beans with prominent sweetness to recommend. At such times, Front Street's baristas would bring out coffee beans from the Costa Rican region and explain them one by one. Why is Costa Rican coffee as sweet as honey? In this article, Front Street will take everyone to learn about Front Street Costa Rican coffee beans.

Costa Rican Coffee Regions

Costa Rica is located in Central America and was the first country to introduce coffee cultivation in Central America, with a very long history. The local volcanic soil is very fertile and has excellent drainage, especially in the Central Plateau, at an altitude of 1,200-1,600 meters, with the harvest season from November to March, encompassing three sub-regions: San José, Heredia, and Alajuela. Within the region are three high-altitude volcanoes: Irazu, Barva, and Poas, providing abundant nutrients for the surrounding coffee. The superior microclimate plus the fertile soil of two volcanoes gives the coffee beans in this area outstanding characteristics, such as chocolate cocoa flavors, bright fruit acidity, and elegant aromas.

Costa Rica has eight major coffee regions: Valle Central Occidental, Valle Central, Tarrazu, Tres Rios, Orosi, Brunca, Turrialba. Most of Costa Rica's specialty coffee comes from the Tarrazu region.

Tarrazu is located south of the capital San José and is one of the country's most valued coffee-growing areas. "La Minita Tarrazu" is a local specialty, but with limited production, about 72,600 kilograms per year, grown on a piece of land called "La Minita," owned by the McAlpine family from the UK for three generations, with an annual production of only 160,000 pounds from the La Minita estate in the Tarrazu region. In fact, this land can produce over 450 tons of coffee annually. However, La Minita Tarrazu coffee is grown without artificial fertilizers or pesticides, and harvesting and sorting are done entirely by hand to avoid some degree of damage to the coffee beans from air jet sorting methods.

Costa Rican coffee has always been known for its balanced flavor, rich chocolate notes, and smooth mouthfeel. Tarrazu is located south of the capital San Jose and is one of Costa Rica's most valued coffee-growing areas. Front Street believes Tarrazu coffee beans are plump, with a rich body, smooth mouthfeel, rich chocolate and nutty aromas, moderate acidity, and an enticing fragrance. The representative of Costa Rican coffee — Front Street Costa Rica Mirazu Estate Geisha Blend Coffee Beans.

Country: Costa Rica

Estate: Mirazu Estate

Altitude: 1700m

Processing Method: Raisin Honey Process

Varieties: Geisha, ET47, SL28, MAICO

Costa Rica Mirazu Estate

Mirazu Estate is very small, and the entire estate is managed by Esteban and his family. Esteban Sanches was originally a family member of the neighboring Candle Estate. Out of his dedication to coffee beans, he founded Mirazu Estate on his own. The small wet processing machine at the processing plant was designed and assembled by Sanches himself.

In the coffee farm, Sanches said that the quality of coffee starts with the trees themselves. Although machines can separate good from bad, if the quality grown is all good, there is no need for machines to distinguish superior from inferior beans. He also said that God gave us a beautiful environment, and we care for the coffee beans with love; this is our feedback and sharing. Thanks to everyone's help, he can fulfill his dream, and he is willing to share his experience and results with other farmers so that everyone's coffee dreams can come true. Coffee Bean Varieties

Front Street Coffee's current procurement of Front Street Costa Rica Strawberry Candy Geisha Blend consists of 50% Geisha coffee beans and 50% mixed ET47, SL28, and MAICO. All come from the same estate grown and then blended as single-origin coffee beans.

It is worth mentioning that among the ET47 and SL28 varieties, ET47 is a native Ethiopian variety. In the 1990s, the Costa Rican Coffee Institute introduced many as research trees for leaf rust resistance and gave them to farmers in the Tarrazu region for cultivation. The original goal of breeding SL28 was to mass-produce coffee beans with both high quality and pest resistance. In some regions, the breeding goal was mainly high yield without considering disease resistance. Thanks to the Bourbon genes, although SL28's yield later fell short of expectations, its bronze leaf color and fava bean-shaped beans have great sweetness, balance, and complex flavors, with notable citrus and dark plum characteristics.

Is this Front Street Costa Rica Strawberry Candy bean, a Geisha blend, still considered a single-origin coffee bean?

Front Street believes it certainly is. All coffee varieties in this Front Street Costa Rica Strawberry Candy coffee bean come from Mirazu Estate, all belonging to the same single origin, so it is a single-origin coffee bean. Why say this? Front Street will give an example: Ethiopian coffee varieties are numerous, and local coffee trees are basically planted mixed and harvested mixed, which is why Ethiopian coffee beans vary in size. As long as coffee beans are grown in the same region, whether single variety or mixed varieties, they are considered single-origin coffee beans. Coffee beans like those from Ethiopia are essentially natural blends, while this Front Street Costa Rica Strawberry Candy Geisha blend is a post-blend.

Coffee Bean Processing Method

The raisin honey process retains 100% mucilage and uses a zero-water method. It increases the difficulty of the honey processing method, requiring strict control of time. On the day of harvesting coffee cherries, the harvested coffee fruits are poured into a large water tank; ripe, plump fruits sink to the bottom; underdeveloped or overripe fruits float to the surface, and these floating beans need to be removed. The selected coffee fruits are placed on raised beds to dry for at least three days, then the cherry skin is removed, retaining the mucilage before further drying.

At this stage, climate factors are key to the success of honey processing. During drying, these coffee cherries must be constantly turned to ensure even drying, but the frequency of turning must be well controlled. Drying should be slow to ensure the coffee undergoes fermentation, but not too slow to cause over-fermentation. Front Street believes this sweet raisin honey process gives the coffee a white wine-like mouthfeel and balanced acidity, with a relatively rich fermented aroma.

Front Street Coffee Green Bean Analysis

This batch of Front Street Costa Rica Mirazu Strawberry Candy Geisha coffee procured by Front Street Coffee consists of 50% Geisha coffee beans and a mix of ET47, SL28, and MAICO. The Geisha variety provides jasmine floral aroma for this coffee, while other varieties add richer strawberry berry flavors. Through the raisin honey process, the sweetness of this coffee is enhanced. To highlight the floral and fermented sweetness of this Front Street Strawberry Candy coffee bean, Front Street's roaster used a medium-light roast for this Front Street Costa Rica Geisha blend coffee bean.

Front Street Coffee Roasting Suggestions Roaster Yangjia 800N semi-direct fire, roasting amount 300g.

Preheat to 200°C, cool to 175°C for charging, adjust gas to 120, open airflow to 3, turning point at 1'32", maintain gas; at 114°C keep gas unchanged, open airflow to 4. At 6'15" turning yellow, grassy smell disappears, entering dehydration phase, at 140°C reduce gas to 100, keep airflow at 4. At 9'00" dehydration complete, bean surface wrinkles and dark spots appear, toast smell turns to coffee aroma, a prelude to first crack, at this time listen carefully for the sound of first crack. At 10'25" first crack begins, open airflow fully to 5, gas unchanged. After first crack, develop for 1'30", discharge at 193.5°C.

Front Street Coffee Cupping Report

Front Street Coffee conducts cupping within 8-24 hours after roasting sample coffee beans. Front Street Coffee's baristas generally use a 200ml ceramic cupping bowl, marked with 150ml and 200ml lines. According to SCAA standards, the water TDS is around 150ppm; too low TDS can easily cause over-extraction, too high affects taste and easily causes under-extraction. The cupping water temperature is 94°C. According to SCAA cupping standards, the grind size is controlled to 70%-75% passing through a No. 20 standard sieve (0.85mm). Ratio: 11 grams of coffee powder to 200 milliliters of hot water, i.e., 1:18.18, so the extracted concentration is exactly within the golden cup range of 1.15%-1.35%. Steeping time: 4 minutes.

Dry Aroma: Dried fruit, berries

Wet Aroma: Floral, berries

Flavor: Raisin, berries, nuts, creamy mouthfeel

Front Street Coffee Brewing Suggestions and Tips

Water temperature: 90-91°C

Grind size: EK43s setting 10 (fine sugar size)

Coffee-to-water ratio: 1:15

Coffee dose: 15 grams

*Regarding grind size, Front Street determines it through sieving. Based on the Specialty Coffee Association of America SCA's grinding recommendations for pour-over coffee, Front Street verifies through actual practice. Using different grind sizes to brew, the results show obvious differences, and each coffee bean's grind size varies. This is the significance of sieving. If you don't have a sieve at home, Front Street Coffee suggests observing the flow rate to judge: if the flow is too fast, the grind is coarse; if too slow, the grind is fine.

Front Street brewing method: First pour 30 grams of water for a 30-second bloom, then pour 95 grams (scale shows about 125 grams), finish pouring in about 1 minute. When the water level drops to 2/3 of the coffee bed, pour the remaining 100 grams (scale shows about 225 grams), finish pouring in about 1 minute 40 seconds. Drip completes at 1'55''-2'00'', remove the dripper, extraction complete.

Brewed flavor: Jasmine aroma, strawberry and raisin flavors on the palate, with a finish of strawberry candy and nuts, and a creamy mouthfeel.

For more specialty coffee beans, please add private WeChat Front Street Coffee, WeChat ID: kaixinguoguo0925

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