Costa Rica

Arabica Varieties include: Marsellesa, H1, H3, Tipica, Caturra, Catuai, Mundo Novo, Costa Rica 95, Hibrido Tico, Geisha, Villalobos, Villa Sarchi, Obatã, Bourbon, Venecia.

High cost of production.

Average wages of ± 3.50 USD/hour. Rigid rules towards child labour, ecology, and preservation of Natural Resoures.  In the beginning of this century, Costa Rica recently reported its first-ever case of coffee borer beetle, and later, coffee trees in the country had suffered with coffee rust.

Main Regions in the past:

Atlantic or Pacific This classification originated from shipping limitations in a past era where regions, according to which side of the mountain ridge they were located on, shipped their coffee either from Puntarenas (Pacific) or Puerto Limon (Atlantic). Thus coffee initially shipped from the Pacific side all came from the higher regions of the country and were widely recognised as being of superior quality. Today, with transport limitations gone, this method of classification is no longer valid as coffees from all regions are mostly shipped via the Atlantic Ocean from Puerto Limon. Today, the emphasis is put on the growing region and/or the estate. The most famous for its qualities are:  Tarrazu and Naranjo regions. But also San Ramon, Orosi and San Pedro are important

Costa Rica strictly hard bean, European preparation, from the region of Naranjo.

Selectively by hand

In the industrial process the coffee is fully washed. Honeys and naturals are microlot exclusive because the pulp would damage several parts of the mill!

It is important to note that in Costa Rica new, strict rules have been enforced to prevent pollution of the rivers during the washing process of coffee. The water used during this process must be re-used at least three times before being filtered, cleaned and released back into a river. Modern and environmental friendly mills don´t release the waste water in rivers but instead we spray them in grass fields to avoid polluting the water.

Due to new laws concerning the preservation of the ecological system in Costa Rica, great care must be taken during the fermentation process to avoid pollution of the rivers, all while achieving a product of the highest quality. As fermentation time will vary and differ between various batches of coffee, it is important to fully control this process to avoid over- and underfermentation.

A coffee which was underfermented, will yield an earthy tasting cup. Coffee which was fermented too long will yield an overfermented cup (giving the coffee an almost chemical, sourish, unpleasant taste).

Patio Drying in the sun : In the sundrying process, coffee is arranged in strips on drying grounds made of brick - sun dried coffee it’s exclusive for microlot coffees. Industrially processed coffees are always furnace dried (in drums, towers, etc) -   almost never in concrete or clay whereas is continuously turned over until residual moisture attains a level of 11-12%.

Artificial Drying in Drums : The artificial drying process using large rotating air drums, is done in two stages. First a preliminary drying down to 35% residual moisture followed by the main drying to about 12% R.M.  Although considerably faster drying is also widely recognised as reducing the quality of the coffee.

After sorting (water sorting is done at the beginning of the process) the coffee is often left to rest for a few weeks in large metal silos.