Where Does Costa Coffee Come From and How Is It Processed?
Front Street's Musician Series Bach comes from the Tarrazú region of Costa Rica, grown at 1,950 meters from Caturra, graded SHB, and processed with the raisin honey method. The cup shows strawberry, blackberry and raisin, with a red-wine note that grows clearer as the coffee cools.
Raisin honey processing keeps 100 percent of the mucilage and uses no water, which makes timing strict. Cherries are floated to remove underripe and overripe fruit, dried on raised beds for at least three days, then pulped with mucilage retained and dried further. The method is built to lift sweetness, which is why the variety and process matter as much as the origin.
Front Street Musician Series Bach is a coffee bean from the Tarrazú region of Costa Rica, processed using the raisin honey method, showcasing intense fruity notes of strawberry, blackberry, and raisin along with a red-wine-like fermented charm. This article will explore the origin information, processing technique, flavor performance, and related products in the same series to analyze the source of sweetness in Bach coffee beans, introduce the technical characteristics of raisin honey processing, and discuss the H1 variety and anaerobic honey processing used in the 2020 new-crop Front Street Mozart.
Front Street · Musician Series Bach
Country of Origin: Costa Rica
Region: Tarrazú
Altitude: 1,950 meters
Processing Method: Raisin Honey
Grade: SHB
Variety: Caturra
Bach's musical works are renowned for their refinement, rich layering, and clear structure. This Costa Rican raisin honey processed coffee bean from Front Street, also named Bach, reveals fruity aromas of strawberry, blackberry, and raisin right at the dry fragrance stage, and the fruity notes continue to waft during pouring and brewing. Immediately after extraction, both floral and fruity aromas are quite prominent; upon tasting, intense fruity notes and a sweet-tart sensation follow, with a slight vinous note emerging in the middle and finish, reminiscent of red wine. As the temperature drops, the candied sweetness gradually becomes clearer, while the vinous note becomes even more pronounced, allowing one to even discern plum wine flavors. The overall drinking experience is like being immersed in the ornate yet rigorous atmosphere of Baroque aesthetics.
Raisin Honey Processing
The so-called raisin honey processing method retains 100% of the mucilage during processing and employs a zero-water approach. This practice significantly increases the difficulty of the honey processing step, thus demanding extremely strict time control. On the day of harvest, the coffee cherries must first be poured into a large water tank, where ripe, plump fruits sink to the bottom while underdeveloped or overripe fruits float to the surface; these floating beans must be removed. After sorting, the coffee cherries are placed on raised beds to dry for at least three days, after which the cherry skin is removed, the mucilage layer is retained, and drying continues.
This processing method aims to enhance the coffee's sweetness, giving Front Street Bach a white-wine-like mouthfeel and balanced acidity. In terms of flavor, the fermented notes become more intense, and the degree of mucilage retention is also higher than in other honey processing methods. In addition to Front Street Bach, Front Street Mozart and Front Street Strawberry Candy · Geisha Blend also use raisin honey processing. After medium-light roasting, these beans not only retain alluring floral aromas but also intensify the high sweetness of fruits like raisin, ripe pineapple, jackfruit, and sweet orange. They are suitable for pour-over or French press extraction, and can also be used to make various iced coffees.
It is worth mentioning that the 2020 new-crop Front Street Musician Series Mozart coffee uses a brand-new coffee variety, H1. H1, short for Centroamericano H1, was developed through continuous research at the Sebaco laboratory in Nicaragua and is a hybrid of Rume Sudan and Sarchimor T-5296. Rume Sudan was originally discovered in the Rume Valley of the Boma Plateau in Sudan, from which it takes its name. This variety produces coffee of good quality and excellent flavor, but has weak disease resistance.
However, the hybridized variety can well inherit its genes for exceptional flavor. Once its genetics are stabilized, the H1 variety possesses advantages such as high productivity, potential for high quality, strong adaptability, and strong resistance to leaf rust, but it is susceptible to American leaf spot disease. The new-crop Front Street Mozart also employs anaerobic honey processing: the fruit skin is first removed, then the coffee beans are placed in specially made metal barrels for 48 hours of anaerobic fermentation, followed by sun-drying. This processing method further highlights its unique raisin aroma.
The above content is compiled by CoffeeHunters, a coffee news website.
