Costa Rican Coffee

Welcome to our site. Here you will find information on gourmet coffee beans and accessories.

Is Clean Boring?

The two categories of coffee are Arabica and Robusta.  On every level, the preferred type of coffee bean is the Arabica type, and of those, some tout the Costa Rican Coffee as the epitome of Arabica example. 

Many coffee connoisseurs will label coffee from Costa Rica as “clean”, or ‘balanced”.  It is the prime example of a mild coffee that tastes exactly as one would expect of a perfect cup of coffee.  Clean and balanced, in this case, is far from boring.  Clean is classic coffee when referring to Costa Rican coffee.

Until recently, the problem with Costa Rican coffee was in the production.  Most of the exported coffee was mass-produced by the bigger mills with little coffee farms relying on them for export servicing.  In recent years, the smaller farms have branched off on their own and now mill their coffee beans.  This enables each farm to yield a special flavor and do what it takes to make the best coffee possible from beans grown on their own farm. Additionally, specializing coffee in this manner has also made coffee bean prices rise, and the benefit extends to all involved; we get the amazing coffee they produce there, and the small farmers (also called micro-mills) make more money for their own products. 

There is no classic taste of Costa Rican coffee anymore.  Flavors ranging from floral and clean fruit notes all the way to Ethiopian style coffee can be found from the beans of this country. 

A classic examples of premium gourmet coffee bean is Don Mayo “La Ponderosa” Bourbon, processed by the Bonilla Family.  This coffee is ever balanced, and the type of coffee that anyone would hope to drink all day long.  There is a mild berry scent to it, with a roasted almond hint.  This particular coffee tastes better as it is cooling down than at its hottest point.  This is considered a “sweet” coffee with very compact flavor.

Another amazing Costa Rican coffee is from Montes de Oro Micro Mill, processed by Emilio Gamboa, called the Costa Rica Tarrazu (the region where it is grown).  This particular bean is extremely versatile in that it seems to be superior at every type of roast.  The light roast yields a honey graham cracker aroma with a touch of lemon, a medium roast brings about scents of caramel and apples.  The darker roasts bring it close to the taste of chocolate.

The majority of the beans from Costa Rica come from the caturra coffee varietal, but some may come from the Mondo Novo or Catuai.  Though the bean might be from the same varietal, where it grows and at what elevation determines outcome.   For Costa Rican coffee, all coffee grown at 3300-3900 feet in elevation is deemed “good hard bean” and all beans grown over 3900 feet are considered be the best of Costa Rica. 

The country is known for its wet-processed beans and acidity content of each cup is high.  For a truly classic example of everything a cup of coffee should be – a good cup of Costa Rican coffee must be tried.