Ah Ha! Costa Rica!
I am white and sunburned, smitten by the people, and absolutely in love and amazed by the coffee production in the Tarrazu coffee growing region! I am living on a diet of rice, beans and pork fat and conflicted on why, considering the offerings, nothing is spicy? Tarrazu is a micro region in Costa Rica located in the Cartoga province (State) named after the city of Cartago, the first capitol of Costa Rica. Tarrazu is considered worldwide the best region in Costa Rica for Coffee. Why you ask? Here is a short explanation of coffee in that region which describes the producers drive and dedication to quality and uniqueness as well as a sort of model of the Ideal way that specialty coffee should be done.
- All of the coffee grown in this area before about ten years ago went to huge “Coopas” or cooperatives were the unripe and ripe cherries were mixed from every finca to produce one singular generic coffee.
- The majority of coffee in this region is still done this way.
- Ten years ago, a man named Don Ricardo, owner of the pioneer Micro-Mill La Candallila, who had twenty years experience as a Coopa mill worker, manager, as well as finca owner, decided that the quality of his coffee was to good and unique to be mixed in with the rest and that he was ultimately loosing money because of the Coopa.
- He decided to create his own small wet and dry milling stations next to his seven farms (the “large “number of farms explained later) so he could maintain the highest quality and represent his unique coffee the way it should be represented.
- Since then, many producers in the area have followed his lead setting up tiny wet processing facilities on there land near their fincas and Don Ricardo remains the Grandfather of the “Micro-Mill” in Costa Rica. He is highly respected by all and remains one of two in Tarrazu with a Dry Mill. 95 % of all the Micro Mils I have visited take there coffee to Don Ricardo to prepare for export.
- Setting up a Micro-Mill takes years of planning and around 150,000 USD to complete so there is a huge risk but gaining about 70% more profit from the high quality has made it a goal for many producers.
So many Farms?
- Costa Rica’s economy relied mostly on Coffee as its #1 cash crop until about 1900. (Today it is #3 behind Bananas and Pineapples)
- Each farmer was required to plant 30 coffee trees on his farm Leading to small plots of coffee all across the agricultural, dominated hillsides. Being so much of a cash crop at the time, many families decided to expand on those 30 trees crating small farms.
- When Costa Rica Micro-Mills say farms, they mean what we call Micro Lots. They are simply tiny farms that are owned by one person spread out across the hillside producing a (extremely uncommon) high of about 100 bags a year, a common medium of about 20 - 30 bags a year and (another common) low of around 2-10 bags a year. To put in perspective our Honey Michicoy lot from FVH was a total of 28 Bags.
- So if we were to promote a coffee from here it would officially look something like this: Costa Rica (country) Tarrazu (Region) La Lia (Micro Mill) Santa Rosa (Farm / Micro lot)
Processing Methods Note: the traditional growing / milling methods in this area are those of the shit Coopas explained above. With that said, the Costa Ricans being a community based innovative people, what we see are many trends that they, and Don Ricardo specifically, create.
- Honey Process. (AKA Pulped Natural) The hottest Trend and commonly seen as a Costa Rican staple. The majority / all of the mucilage (the slimy stuff between the skin (Fruit, Pulp) remains surrounding the bean when sent to the patios to dry.
- Semi-washed Less (about 50 %) of the mucilage left on the bean when sent to the drying patios. -Fully washed None of the mucilage left on the bean when sent to the patios. note: all processes can be altered with a simple switch in the way the de-mucilage does its job.
Costa Rica Specific Fun Facts!
- The Micro-Mills no longer ferment ANY of their specialty grade coffee washed, semi, or honey to separate the mucilage from bean. It is extracted by a “Washing machine” or de-muciliger exactly like the eco-pulper that DTC uses. They reserve the tanks for the 15% of their production called “second” and “thirds” sold to the domestic market. They say that fermenting the bean takes away from the quality.
- Costa Rica as a whole is extremely environmentally driven and there is many government regulations on the Coopa mills as well as the Micro-Mills. Water is of utmost importance to their eco-system and the Government has passed and enforced strict water conservation laws. 100% of the water used in milling is recirculated and cleaned throughout the processing period. They only use about 300 liters all season.
Common Varietals (in order of popular use) Caturra / Catuai, Typica, Villa Lobos, Bourbon, Geisha, Pacamara? (only 50 trees not ready for production)
New Trends:
- Geisha. The new hype! the Costa Ricans claim they had it before Panama. Receives about 30-70% higher prices on the market. La Candelilla was the first in Tarrazu to offer the Geisha.
- Fully Natural Processed Coffee. Expect this to be the new Honey Process here. Extremely difficult due to the risk of mildew and mold in such a moist climate. With there intense sorting methods and attention to detail, expect these to be clean and amazing!
Well that seems to be the facts so far which covers most of the specialty coffee production basics in Costa Rica (so from now on expect fluff emails! hahah!). Two days in and 11 Micro-Mill under my belt, the journey has just begun! 13 more mills in Costa Rica representing 2 other regions and 7 mills in Panama representing 2 regions. I am cupping 100 - 150 coffees this Friday to see what micro lots we are interested in. Wish me luck (as well as focus)!
Hope all is well with all of you! Keep on representing these amazing people with the care and passion that they produce it with cuz after all, they do the same for us!
-Christian
– Christian Rotsko Roast Master Barefoot Coffee