How Coffee Farms in Costa Rica's West Valley Shape Flavor

Finca Sumava de Lourdes sits in Costa Rica's West Valley at roughly 1,700 meters, and its black honey process is the estate's signature. Owner Francisco Mena soaks parchment beans in coffee cherry juice, a sweet-juice honey method that builds a syrupy body. The Caturra variety here shows brown sugar, floral, citrus, and sweet spice notes with a creamy mouthfeel.

Costa Rica's coffee farms have a long record: cultivation dates to 1779, when coffee arrived from Cuba, and exports began in 1820. The country now has about 32,000 growers, most farming under one hectare. Volcanic soils, Pacific and Atlantic breezes, and distinct microclimates give Costa Rican coffee its recognized character.

Finca Sumava de Lourdes in Costa Rica is located in the West Valley production region at an altitude of about 1,700 meters and is renowned for its black honey processing method. Estate owner Francisco Mena uses a unique sweet juice honey process, soaking parchment beans in coffee cherry juice to give the coffee a richer flavor. This article will provide a detailed introduction to the background of Costa Rica's production regions, the terroir conditions of Finca Sumava de Lourdes, the characteristics of the black honey process, green bean analysis, roasting curve, and pour-over recommendations. Front Street Coffee recommends this black honey processed Caturra, with flavors of brown sugar, floral notes, citrus, and sweet spices, and a sweet, creamy mouthfeel. Through this article, you will gain a comprehensive understanding of the unique charm of this champion estate coffee.

Costa Rica Sumava de Lourdes black honey

Costa Rica. Finca Sumava de Lourdes. Caturra. Black Honey

01 | Production Region Introduction

Costa Rica's coffee cultivation history can be traced back to 1779, when coffee was introduced from Cuba, and it was not until 1820 that coffee was first exported overseas. At present, the country has about 32,000 coffee farmers, with an average cultivation area of less than one hectare (10,000 m²) per farmer. In 2006, Costa Rica's population was 4,100,000, coffee cultivation area reached 82,500 hectares, annual output was about 1.7 million bags (60 kg per bag), domestic annual consumption was 380,000 bags, and per capita annual consumption was 5.5 kg, even exceeding Japan (4 kg), while Taiwan region's per capita consumption is only slightly above 1 kg.

Costa Rica was the first country in Central America where coffee was introduced for cultivation, with a long history and a complete coffee organization system from production to sales. Because it is located in the Central American isthmus, with numerous volcanoes within its borders, it enjoys the natural advantages of sunlight and land. In terms of climate, it is also moderated by both Pacific and Atlantic ocean currents and sea breezes. The coffee produced has the characteristics of local microclimatic terroir conditions. In both quality and quantity, Costa Rican coffee has always been recognized by the world and has been rated as one of the world-class high-quality coffees. Many towering volcanoes within the country reach 2,000 meters above sea level, allowing coffee cherries to grow slowly in fertile volcanic ash soil and a cool high-altitude environment, nurturing coffee beans with complete and rich flavors.

Costa Rica began planting coffee two hundred years ago. The earliest cultivation sites were on the slopes of Poas and Barva volcanoes, which is the area now known as the Central Valley. After years of development, Costa Rica currently has eight main production regions: Guanacastes, West Valley, Central Valley, Turrialba, Orosi, Tres Rios, Tarrazu, and Brunca.

According to ICO statistics, Costa Rica can produce about 1.6 million bags of Arabica coffee per year. Although its output is less than that of Central American countries such as Guatemala and Honduras, its quality and price are far higher than theirs.

A year in Costa Rica can be divided into two seasons. The dry season is from December to April each year, which is also the coffee harvest time, while the rainy season is from May to November. In recent years, micro-processing mills have been established one after another. Because water consumption is only 5% of that of traditional washed processing mills, and large water tanks and drying yards are not needed, the required investment is relatively much smaller. "Honey processed coffee" with low acidity, increased complexity, and rich sweet aroma has thus become a target pursued by the coffee world in recent years; the outstanding ones among them have shone brightly in major competitions in recent years, greatly enhancing the international reputation of various estates.

Finca Sumava de Lourdes

Costa Rica has seven coffee production regions, among which Tarrazu, Central Valley, and West Valley are the three most well-known and highest-quality production regions. Finca Sumava de Lourdes is located in Costa Rica's West Valley production region, near the city of Naranjo, at an altitude of 1,700 meters. The planted varieties include Villasarchi and Caturra on 10 hectares, SL28 on 2 hectares, Geisha on 1 hectare, and other varieties. Estate owner Francisco Mena and estate manager Jose Ordonez lead a full-time work team. In addition to planting diverse coffee varieties, the estate also preserves a large area of land as a forest reserve, allowing wild animals to have a natural habitat. It is a quite high-quality coffee estate in Costa Rica.

Finca Sumava de Lourdes in Costa Rica is a very young estate; Francisco Mena, who was originally engaged in the coffee trade business, bought this piece of land and preserved most of the original forest, developing only a small part as a coffee cultivation area to maintain the estate's natural ecological balance.

Finca Sumava de Lourdes is at an altitude of about 1,670-1,790 meters, in another well-known Costa Rican production region—West Valley. The large temperature difference, combined with fertile soil, makes it very suitable for coffee cultivation.

Estate owner Francisco Mena introduced a high-quality variety that entered the top 13 of the Cup of Excellence, a mutation of Bourbon, Villa Sarchi. This is a rare variety bred through hybridization of the Red Bourbon tree species. It is resistant to strong winds, prefers high-altitude environments, and has excellent acidity and various layered fruit aromas. It has high sweetness, with bright and delicate citrus acidity and lower notes of raisin and nut aromas, quite high complexity and full balance.

Most of the estate has been left as forest to maintain the natural environment. In estate management, much thought has also been put in. For dead wood, rotten wood, weeds, and so on, traditional burning methods are not used. Instead, the wood is crushed into chips and mixed with organic fertilizer to be used as fertilizer on the farm. From the El Chayote reserve in the West Valley, on the fertile volcanic soil of Poás, facing Pacific convection and moisture, plus the fairly low temperature difference between day and night and an excellent microclimate, this small area within a 1-kilometer radius has produced 4 champion estates! Truly a place that nurtures outstanding people and quality!

02 | Processing Method

Honey Process

Honey process, called Honey Process or Miel Process, and referred to as Honey Coffee, is adopted by coffee farms in places such as Costa Rica, Panama, and Guatemala. So-called honey processing refers to the process of making green beans by sun-drying with mucilage still attached.

Estate owner Mena uses a unique sweet juice honey process, which he calls: sweet sugar process ! The liquid produced during the coffee cherry processing is taken to soak the parchment beans being processed. Because the cherry liquid contains fairly high sweetness and unique enzymes, the processed parchment beans contain richer flavors and very complex positive flavors!

The harvest season is usually from January to April each year. Because the estate temperature is only 10-20°C, there are often coffee fruits still ripening and waiting to be picked in April! Simply understood: the more pectin retained in the processing method, the richer the final coffee flavor and the higher the sweetness. Below is a flavor comparison of several honey processing types:

The pectin mucilage part is the part of the coffee fruit with the highest sugar content and is also an important component of coffee processing fermentation. It can be said that this part determines 80% of the nutrient supply during processing. Yellow Honey retains 60% of the pectin, Red Honey retains 75% of the pectin, and Black Honey removes almost no pectin.

03 | Green Bean Analysis

Green Bean Information

Region: West Valley

Estate: Finca Sumava de Lourdes

Variety: Caturra

Altitude: 1,700 meters

Processing Method: Black Honey

Soil: Volcanic geology

Harvest: December to March of the following year

Flavor Description: Brown sugar, floral notes, citrus, pomelo, sweet spices, sweet and creamy mouthfeel

Caturra, Caturra, varietal Caturra, Coffea arabica var. caturra.

First discovered in São Paulo State, Brazil, in 1937, it is a natural mutation of Bourbon. It is currently widely cultivated in Central and South American production regions such as Brazil and Colombia.

04 | Roasting Analysis

Yangjia 800N, 550 g green beans charged, specific operation:

Charge when the drum temperature reaches 200°C, set airflow to 3, after 1 minute of steaming adjust heat to 160°C, airflow unchanged, drum temperature adjust heat once at 160°C, lower to 135°C, roast until 5'40", temperature 154.9°C, bean surface turns yellow, grassy smell completely disappears, dehydration complete, airflow unchanged;

At the 9th minute, the bean surface shows ugly wrinkles and dark streaks, and the toast aroma clearly turns into coffee aroma. This can be defined as the prelude to first crack. At this time, listen clearly for the sound of the first crack point. At 9'21" first crack begins, reduce heat to 80°C, open airflow fully to 5 (adjusting heat must be very careful, not so low that there is no crackling sound) 50°C, drop at 193.4°C.

Cupping Taste

03 | Brewing Analysis

Pour-over Reference

Use Key family dripper, 16 g coffee and 32 g water for 30 seconds blooming, extract with 89-90°C water temperature, 1:15, medium-fine grind Little Fuji 3.5, second pour to 110 ml and stop, wait for the water to drop and then slowly pour again, at an even speed, the water level should not be too high, pour again until 233 ml and stop, extraction time 2:15 seconds ~ rich sun-dried sweetness. Everyone can fine-tune according to their own taste.

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Front Street Coffee recommends this Costa Rica Finca Sumava de Lourdes black honey processed Caturra. It has a unique flavor and outstanding sweetness, suitable for pour-over enthusiasts to try.

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