How Does Costa Rica Grade Coffee Beans by Altitude?
Costa Rica grades its coffee bean by the altitude of the coffee farm rather than by bean size or defect count. The system has seven levels, from Strictly Hard Bean above 4,500 feet down to Good Washed below 2,000 feet. Specialty coffee today relies mostly on the top three: SHB, HB, and SH, with Tarrazu as a well-known high-altitude source.
Higher altitude slows cherry maturation, which typically firms up density and keeps acidity lively. Costa Rica produces less than one percent of the world's coffee, yet its balanced, clean, mild style with citrus and berry notes has built a strong reputation. The Mozart lot from Tarrazu shows nut, berry, and chocolate layered over that classic base.
Costa Rican coffee is renowned worldwide for its balanced, clean, and mild classic style. Its acidity is bright and lively, often featuring citrus and berry notes, with an elegant coffee floral aroma lingering in the aftertaste, exuding an overall serene Latin countryside atmosphere. Unlike many producing regions, Costa Rica's grading method does not rely on bean size or defect rate, but directly uses the altitude of the coffee farm as the basis for classification, with a total of seven grades. This article will systematically outline the specific contents of this grading system, introduce the most common SHB, HB, and SH grades in today's specialty coffee market, and, combined with the typical flavor performance of the Tarrazu region, recommend Front Street Coffee's Costa Rica Mozart coffee beans, taking you deeper into this coffee nation that, despite its small output, enjoys an outstanding reputation.
Front Street - Costa Rica Grading and Chocolate Flavor Introduction
Costa Rican coffee has long been regarded as the perfect model of classic flavor. Balance, cleanliness, and mildness form its basic foundation, and it has always been famous for being extremely balanced, extremely clean, extremely bright, and having berry-toned fruit acidity.
Beyond its nearly perfect classic flavor, its acidity also displays lively citrus or berry characteristics, while the aftertaste is haunted by a distinct coffee floral aroma, making it a tranquil coffee full of Latin countryside charm.
The grading method for Costa Rican coffee beans is quite simple: it is graded by the altitude of the coffee farm, with a total of seven grades/names/abbreviations/elevation (feet): 1? Strictly Hard Bean (SHB) above 4500 2? Hard Bean (HB) 4000——4500 3? Semi-Hard Bean (SH) 3500——4000 4? Extra Prime Washed (EPW) 3000——3500 5? Prime Washed (PW) 2500——3000 6? Extra Good Washed (EGW) 2000——2500 7? Good Washed (GW) below 2000. Currently, specialty coffee commonly uses beans from the three grades SHB, HB, and SH.
Costa Rica's coffee production is less than 1% of the world's coffee production, but it enjoys a high reputation for producing relatively better coffee, even though coffee yields are usually low. Tarrazu is extremely famous in the specialty coffee world, with a very balanced taste and just the right body, providing a solid platform for the wonderful blend of nut, berry, and chocolate aromas to be continuously experienced. It has a rich fruity sweetness, and its long aftertaste is very prominent.
Costa Rica Tarrazu Washed
Varieties: Caturra, Catuai
Grade: SHB
Processing Method: Washed
Growing Altitude: 1200-1650m
Flavor: Orange, green grape, plum, milk, chocolate
Costa Rica's SHB refers to Strictly Hard Beans grown at altitudes above 1500. High altitude can increase the acidity of coffee beans, cause coffee trees to grow slowly, and make the flavor of the coffee beans even richer.
Knowledge Extension: Beans from Costa Rica possess unparalleled charm, with rich, bright acidity and a pure, crystal-clear texture.
Brief Note: Front Street is a dedicated coffee research house, happy to share coffee-related knowledge with everyone. We share without reservation only to make more friends fall in love with coffee, and every month there are 3 low-discount coffee events. The reason is that Front Street wants more friends to drink the best coffee at the lowest price, and this has also been Front Street's purpose for 6 years!
The above content is compiled by CoffeeHunters, a coffee news website.
