More than sixty countries and regions around the world produce coffee, most of them concentrated in the tropical and subtropical zones between the Tropic of Cancer and the Tropic of Capricorn, with the equator running right through the middle. This area is known as the Coffee Belt. Among the many producing regions, Central America holds an important position. This article will take you into Central American countries such as Costa Rica, Cuba, the Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Guadeloupe, and Guatemala, to learn about the flavor characteristics, cultivation history, and current development of each country's signature coffee beans. From Costa Rica's Strictly Hard Bean to Guatemala's spicy-flavored coffee, from El Salvador's Pacamara hybrid variety to Cuba's Turquino grade, every cup carries a story of terroir and culture. Front Street Coffee will also recommend selected beans worth trying.
More than sixty countries and regions around the world grow coffee, the vast majority of them located in the tropical and subtropical zones between the Tropic of Cancer and the Tropic of Capricorn, with the equator passing right through this belt, which is why this coffee-growing region is also called the Coffee Belt or Coffee Zone.
Today we focus on the situation in the Americas coffee producing regions .
I. Costa Rican Coffee
Plump beans, moderate acidity, and a rich, distinctive aroma.
Costa Rica's Tarrazu is one of the world's important coffee producing regions, and the coffee it produces has a clean, refreshing taste and a delightful aroma. The country's volcanic soil is fertile with excellent drainage, and it was the first country in Central America to grow coffee and bananas for commercial profit. Coffee and bananas constitute the country's main export commodities. In 1729, coffee was introduced to Costa Rica from Cuba, and since then its coffee industry has developed into one of the most highly organized industries in the world, with yields reaching 1,700 kilograms per hectare. Costa Rica has a population of only 3.5 million, yet there are as many as 400 million coffee trees, and coffee exports account for 25% of the country's total export value. In addition, Costa Rica also benefits from the Turrialba of the Central American Agricultural Research Institute (IAAC) located in Tarrazu, which is an important international research center.
High-quality Costa Rican coffee is called "Strictly Hard Bean," and this coffee can grow at altitudes above 1,500 meters. Altitude has always been a key factor for coffee growers. The higher the altitude, the better the coffee bean quality — not only because high altitude can increase the acidity of the coffee beans and thereby enrich the flavor, but also because nighttime temperatures in high-altitude areas are lower, causing the trees to grow slowly, which in turn makes the flavor of the coffee beans more intense. At the same time, the abundant rainfall brought by high altitude is also extremely beneficial to the growth of coffee trees. However, despite the many advantages of growing coffee at high altitudes, the additional transportation costs must be taken into account, which may well make coffee production unprofitable. Costa Rica's coffee industry has adopted new technologies to improve efficiency, including the use of "electric eyes" to sort coffee beans and identify beans of irregular size.
Tarrazu is located south of the capital, San José, and is one of the country's most valued coffee-growing regions. "La Minita Tarrazu" is a well-known local product, but its output is limited, at about 72,600 kilograms per year, produced from a piece of land called "La Minita," owned by the McAlpine family of the United Kingdom for the last three generations. In fact, this land can produce more than 450 tons of coffee per year. However, no artificial fertilizers or pesticides are used in the cultivation of La Minita Tarrazu coffee, and picking and sorting are all done by hand, in order to avoid the damage to the coffee beans caused to some extent by air-jet sorting methods.
Other coffees worth mentioning include: Juan Vinas (PR), H. Tournon, Windmill (SHB), Monte bello, and Santa Rosa. Premium coffees typically grow in Geredia and the Central Valley. Another notable coffee is Sarchi coffee (Sarchi is one of the five towns representing Costa Rica's "Coffee Route"), which grows on the slopes of Poas Volcano, 53 kilometers from San José. The Sarchi company was founded in 1949, with a land area of 30,770 hectares, growing sugarcane and coffee. This region is also famous for its handicrafts, attracting tourists from all over the world.
The country's coffee industry was originally managed by the Instituto del Café de Costa Rica (ICAFE), and has now been taken over by the Oficina del Café. Among exported coffee, products deemed substandard are colored with blue vegetable dye and then returned for domestic sale. Domestically consumed coffee (dyed blue or undyed) accounts for about 10% of total production, and local per capita coffee consumption is twice that of Italy or the United States.
II. Cuban Coffee
If this country famous for its cigars did not have premium coffee to pair with them, it would certainly be a great pity.
Cuba's best coffee is Turquino or Extra Turquino. Turquino is a coffee grade rather than a place name, just like Blue Mountain coffee. This coffee has a pure flavor and moderate-sized beans, and because it is grown at lower altitudes, its acidity is lower than that of many coffees grown in Central America.
Were it not for the influence of the political climate, Cuba would undoubtedly be an important coffee supplier to the United States and Japan.
III. The Dominican Republic
Delicious, sweet, and plump coffee. The Dominican Republic borders Haiti, and together they share the island of Hispaniola. Like its neighbor, the Dominican Republic has experienced a history of revolution and poverty, but today it holds democratic elections and the country is relatively stable. In the early 18th century, coffee began to be grown in the Dominican Republic, with the best producing area being the Barahona region in the southwest, though Juncalito and Ocoa also produce a premium coffee — Santo Domingo coffee, characterized by its fresh and delicate taste, plump beans, excellent acidity, and pleasant aroma, offering good value for money. Unlike coffee produced in Haiti, most coffee grown in the Dominican Republic is wet-processed, which is also a symbol of high quality.
IV. El Salvador
Unique, mild-flavored coffee. El Salvador is one of Central America's small countries, with a very dense population. Its coffee's flavor characteristic is excellent balance. Today, this coffee accounts for 40% of the country's exports. The highest-quality coffee is exported from January to March, with 35% of the Strictly Hard Beans going to Germany.
In the early 1990s, guerrilla warfare severely damaged the country's national economy, causing coffee production to fall from 3.5 million bags in the early 1970s to 2.5 million bags in 1990–1991. The eastern part of the country was most affected by the guerrilla warfare, and many farmers and workers were forced to leave the estates. A shortage of funds caused coffee production to drop sharply, from a past yield of 1,200 kilograms per hectare to less than 900 kilograms per hectare today.
In addition, in 1986 the government imposed an additional 15% tariff on coffee exports, on top of the existing 30% tax. The taxes, together with unfavorable exchange rates, caused coffee exports to plummet and quality to decline accordingly. The government finally recognized the enormous role of coffee in the national economy — for example, in providing employment, earning foreign exchange, and developing agriculture — and therefore partially privatized the coffee export industry in 1990, hoping thereby to increase coffee's earnings in the export market.
In Cuscacbapa, El Salvador, already-packaged coffee beans are about to be exported. Salvadoran coffee is a specialty of Central America, with a light body, aroma, purity, and slight acidity. Like Guatemala and Costa Rica, El Salvador's coffee is graded according to altitude — the higher the altitude, the better the coffee. The best brand is Pipil, which is the Aztec-Mayan name for coffee, and it has obtained recognition from the Organic Certified Institute of America.
Another rare coffee is Pacamara, a hybrid of Pacas and Maragogype. The best place to grow this coffee is in western El Salvador, near Santa Ana, close to the Guatemalan border. Pacamara coffee beans are plump, but their aroma is not very strong.
V. Guadeloupe
Good coffee production was once hit by natural disasters. This group of islands in the Caribbean was formerly an important coffee producing area. In 1789, more than one million coffee trees on 500 hectares of land produced 4,000 tons, whereas today only 150 hectares of land are used for growing coffee. This decline can be attributed to the increase in sugarcane and banana production as well as the destruction of coffee trees by Hurricane Ines in 1996. Political reasons include the land redistribution carried out from 1962 to 1965, which caused enormous losses in coffee production. Compared with banana and sugarcane cultivation, coffee growing requires more labor hours and more capital.
In the past, Guadeloupe was the best coffee producing area, but it no longer exports coffee. Bonifieur was designated as the highest-quality coffee of the region — a name that was once a source of pride in coffee history.
VI. Guatemala
The Strictly Hard Beans here are plump with a balanced flavor, and the coffee brewed from them is pure and rich. Guatemalan coffee once enjoyed a reputation as the best-quality coffee in the world, though its quality also declined for a time. Fortunately, its reputation is now gradually recovering.
In 1750, Jesuit priests introduced coffee trees to Guatemala, and in the late 19th century German colonists developed the coffee industry there. Today, most of the coffee production takes place in the southern part of the country. Here, the slopes of the Sierra Madre volcanoes provide ideal conditions for growing premium coffee beans, and coffee grown at high altitudes thrives. Compared with other types of coffee, tasters prefer this spicy-flavored blended coffee. The Strictly Hard Beans here are even more of a rare find — plump, delicious, and with balanced acidity. In addition, its giant coffee beans have also drawn much attention to Guatemala. The coffee industry once made the country prosperous and still occupies a dominant position in the national economy today. Unfortunately, however, the domestic political situation is unfavorable to coffee growers. High yield is usually a sign of a country's overall economic prosperity.
Guatemala
Guatemalan coffee beans
However, Guatemala's coffee production has now declined relatively, to only 700 kilograms per hectare, while El Salvador's yield is 900 kilograms per hectare, and Costa Rica's is even more astonishing, at as much as 1,700 kilograms per hectare. Guatemala's coffee export trade is controlled by private companies, but the Asociacion Nacional de Cafe controls other sectors of the coffee industry. At present, some of Guatemala's highest-quality coffee is exported to Japan, where each cup sells for 3–4 US dollars. Most small-scale producers are descendants of the Maya, who prefer to be called locals.
At present, they also benefit from a US-funded project that locals call "The Project," which plans to invest 2.5 million US dollars to encourage the establishment of small, high-quality coffee plantations. Guatemala's main regions for producing premium coffee are Lake Atitlan and Huehuetenango. The purpose of the project is to help overcome the vicious cycle of high yield and low quality that plagues the world coffee industry. For example, Bourbon trees grow taller than the new dwarf varieties and produce fewer coffee beans; although both belong to the Arabica coffee species, Bourbon trees produce better beans and are more popular with gourmets. The project also hopes to encourage local producers to process coffee beans themselves, because most coffee cherries are now sold to middlemen, and if coffee processing could be done in local factories, its value and even its quality might be improved.
Antigua is also a famous coffee producing area. Antigua's coffee is produced at Hacienda Carmona, and the best-quality coffee there is EL Pulcal, which is not only good in quality but also richer in flavor, fuller in body, and heavier in tobacco notes than other Guatemalan coffees. About every 30 years, the area around Antigua suffers a volcanic eruption, which provides more nitrogen to the already fertile soil, and the abundant rainfall and sunshine make this place even more suitable for growing coffee. Other coffee producing areas include: San Marco, Oriente & Coban, Palcya, Mataquescuintia, and La Uman in Zacapa, among others. The establishment of the Specialty Coffee Association means that the Guatemalan government has begun to pay attention to high-quality coffee, and the efforts made for this will soon bear fruit.
Note: The article is excerpted from the WeChat public account Aolu Americas coffee producing regions Americas coffee producing regions Americas coffee producing regions
The above content is compiled by CoffeeHunters, a coffee news website.
