Costa Rica MozartCoffee Bean Intro:

Front Street Coffee: Costa Rica · Canet Musician Series · Mozart

Country:  Costa Rica

Region: Tarrazú

Elevation: 1800m

Processing Method: Anaerobic Honey Process

Grade: SHB

Variety: H1

| Costa Rica Tarrazú Region

Tarrazú is located in the Central American isthmus within Costa Rica, influenced by the oceanic currents and sea breezes from both the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans, which regulate its climate. The region is home to numerous towering volcanoes reaching altitudes of up to 2000 meters. Coffee cherries grow slowly in the fertile volcanic ash soil and cool high-altitude environment, developing into coffee beans with complete and rich flavors.

Costa Rica has two main seasons per year. The dry season runs from December to April each year, coinciding with the coffee harvest, while the wet (rainy) season lasts from May to November. In recent years, numerous micro-processing mills have been established. These require only 5% of the water used by traditional washed processing mills and do not need large fermentation tanks or drying patios, making the investment relatively much smaller. As a result, “honey process coffee,” which features low acidity, increased complexity, and rich sweetness, has become a sought-after focus in the coffee industry in recent years.

Coffee cultivation in Costa Rica began as early as two hundred years ago, initially planted on the slopes of the Poás and Barva volcanoes — what we now call the Central Valley. Currently, Costa Rica has eight major coffee-growing regions: West Valley, Central Valley, Tarrazú, Tres Ríos, Orosi, Brunca, Turrialba, and Guanacaste.

Among them, Tarrazú is one of the primary coffee-producing areas. The Tarrazú region has a long history of coffee production and was once favored and recognized by the British royal family, even receiving praise in a speech by the Pope.

|   Canet Estate

The Canet Estate is located in the highest elevation area of the Tarrazú region, which is also the most densely planted fruit-growing area in Costa Rica. The estate primarily grows passion fruit, with coffee being quite rare — there is only a specific small area dedicated to coffee cultivation, which receives special care. All coffee cherries are hand-picked, selecting only ripe red cherries. However, even after harvesting but before processing, there is an additional screening step to remove underripe or overripe beans.

|   Anaerobic Honey Process

The anaerobic honey process is the currently popular anaerobic or oxygen-free fermentation method. Similar to winemaking, the depulped coffee mucilage and beans are placed together in a stainless steel tank for fermentation. The high pressure inside the tank slows down the fermentation rate significantly, allowing the coffee to develop more sweetness and wonderful acidity — which is the ultimate goal.

Carbonic maceration is a new method applied in wine processing, where whole grapes are placed in a carbon dioxide-rich environment to induce an oxygen-free state. This allows the grape berries themselves to convert their own sugars into alcohol even without yeast, resulting in unique aromas. Wines made this way feature soft aromas, rich flavors, and stable color.

H1 Variety Coffee Beans

H1, short for Centroamericano H1, is the result of ongoing research by the Sebaco laboratory in Nicaragua. H1 is a hybrid of Lempira Sudan and Sarchimor T-5296. Lempira Sudan was discovered in the Lempira Valley of the Boma Plateau in Sudan, hence its name. This coffee variety is of good quality and excellent flavor, but it has weak disease resistance. However, hybrid varieties derived from it can inherit its favorable flavor traits well.

The genetically stabilized H1 variety exhibits high yield potential, potential for high quality, strong adaptability, and robust resistance to leaf rust, though it is susceptible to American leaf spot. In terms of coffee tree yield, H1 outperforms other traditional American varieties by 22% to 47%. The plant’s leaf tips are green and show strong resistance to rust, medium resistance to coffee berry disease, but are prone to nematode infestation.