About This Coffee
In the community of Cedral, near Tarrazu in San Jose, 20 producers are cultivating excellent specialty coffees that are emblematic of the microregion of Tarrazu. They cultivate coffee on farms that range from smaller than 1 hectares to 20 hectares. High altitudes of 1,500 to 1,700 meters above sea level create the ideal conditions for cultivating sweet, dense cherry. This coffee is fruity and sweet with marzipan and citrus.
Harvest & Post-Harvest
Producers selectively handpick ripe, red cherry and deliver it to Palmichal micro-mill. At the mill, coffee is sorted to remove any visible defects and floated to remove any under or over-ripes. Selected cherry is pulped in the mill’s ecopulper, which uses less water than traditional pulpers. Costa Rica has strict environmental protection laws, so Fully washed coffees, which use more water to produce, are less common, making this a special find. Pulped coffee is fermented for approximately 40 hours and then washed in clean water. Parchment is dried slowly in mechanical drum dryers. Dryers are controlled by advanced software that manages temperature and airflow. This technology makes cup profiles more repeatable. In total, coffee dries slowly for about 40 hours.
Strictly Hard Bean (SHB)
Strictly Hard Bean (SHB) specifies the altitude at which the coffee was grown. A coffee must be grown at 1,200 meters above sea level or higher to be considered SHB. The higher altitude and lower temperatures mean that the coffee fruit matures more slowly, creating a denser bean.
European Preparation (EP)
EP stands for European Preparation. EP beans are Screen 15+ with a low defect tolerance.
Coffee in Costa Rica
Thanks to tireless innovations, the sheer number of coffee varieties, extensive technical knowledge and attention to coffee production, Costa Rica is one of the most advanced coffee producing countries in Central America.
The climatic conditions in the country also play a role in the high quality of coffee produced. There are eight coffee regions: Guanacaste, West Valley, Turrialba, Valle Central (Central Valley), Tres Rios, Brunca, Orosi, and Tarrazú, a specific part of Valle Central.
Costa Rica has also become a world leader in traceability and sustainability in coffee production. Ninety percent of the country’s 50,000 coffee farmers are smallholders, and today, many deliver their cherry to boutique micro-mills that often process cherries according to producer specs to retain single-lot or single-farm qualities.
The rise of micro-mill processing, in itself, is a relatively recent development. Prior to the early 2000s it was common for smaller producers to deliver their cherry to cooperative-owned mills. As lucrative specialty markets developed, more and more farmers began establishing mills on their own farms, giving them increased control over processing and more assurance of the ‘traceability story’ so important to the growing market segment. Mills with excess capacity would then offer their services to neighboring farmers, offering a range of processing methods for small lots along with full traceability for roasters and importers. The system has enabled Costa Rica’s small to mid-sized coffee farmers to offer a wide range of differentiated products. Today, specialty lots from Costa Rica are almost as likely to bear the name of the micro-mill where they were processed as that of the producing farm.
The typically uncertain and dry weather patterns in Costa Rica make coffee farming more difficult. Long dry seasons and unpredictable weather patterns have virtually eliminated the possibility of organic farming. Nonetheless, both the government and farmers have taken active steps to protect the environment. Some of these restrictions also inform the processing methods for which Costa Rican coffee has become known.