Costa Rican coffee single bean species, brand recommendation and manor introduction

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Costa Rican coffee single bean species, brand recommendation and manor introduction

Have you ever wondered what coffee honey treatment is? (this article only discusses the treatment of red honey) is there any coffee that tastes better than other treatments you are used to drinking?

This article takes you to explore what honey treatment is, what are the characteristics of honey treatment, and what is the different significance of honey treatment for baristas and bakers.

Why is it called honey treatment?

There are three main ways to treat coffee: sun exposure, water washing and honey treatment. The sun drying method is to directly expose the coffee cherries before removing the shell and pectin layer; the water washing method is to screen the coffee pulp before exposure and ferment to remove the pectin layer; the honey treatment law is between the sun method and the water washing method: the pectin layer is directly retained and exposed after the coffee pulp is screened.

Then you will ask where is Mi?

The word honey treatment makes many people think that coffee is treated with honey, or that coffee tastes as sweet as honey, but in fact it is not either of these two explanations. The meaning of honey treatment comes from the sticky pectin layer of coffee beans before exposure, which feels as sticky as honey; when the coffee pulp is separated from the coffee beans, the outer coated pectin layer is exposed to absorb moisture in the air and make the pectin layer sticky.

When the coffee is screened, the pectin layer will remain on the outside of the coffee bean.

Why is honey treatment popular with coffee farmers?

At first, some people saw that this treatment could continuously improve the quality of their coffee beans, and it originated in Costa Rica, and this treatment is now ramming.

So why did coffee farmers in Costa Rica plan to treat it with honey in the first place? When coffee farmers want to improve the quality or price of their coffee, they have three choices: change the species of coffee, change the altitude of planting, and change the method of treatment. Just like most people who brew coffee, they will want to use relatively simple ways, such as adjusting the grinding scale and the amount of powder, and then adjusting the amount of water, pressure and temperature of the coffee machine. Most coffee farmers also want to change the treatment method first. Then they will consider planting new tree species or moving the manor, which requires investment of time and money.

Honey treatment is time-consuming and the construction method is exquisite.

Honey treatment is not simple, it takes a long time and must be handled carefully. What are the steps involved in honey processing?

First of all, coffee farmers should select ripe coffee cherries from the coffee tree, and then screen out the outer pulp, as mentioned earlier to retain the pectin layer outside the coffee beans. The pectin layer retains a high proportion of sugar and acid, which are the key to honey treatment.

The following steps are the most complex and exquisite part of honey treatment: exposure. The time must be mastered well, and the length of time is the key. If the exposure time is too short, it is impossible to convert the substance of the pectin layer into the coffee beans, and the time cannot be too long, and the action must be fast to avoid mildew beans caused by internal fermentation.

So how do you strike a balance? Put the beans on the sun scaffolding or cement floor and turn the beans several times per hour for the first few days until they reach the desired moisture content, a step that usually takes 6-10 hours. You need to turn it at least once a day for the next 6-8 days. It takes a lot of time, huh? The reason why honey treatment is so time-consuming is that beans absorb moisture from the air every night, so that it takes more time to expose themselves the next day.

When the coffee is exposed, it is almost as dry and roasted as any other treatment.

Honey-treated coffee is being exposed on the cement floor.

Why is honey treatment so beautiful?

When honey treatment is so difficult and time-consuming, you may wonder if it's really worth it.

There's no doubt it's worth it.

Honey-treated coffee generally has a great balance of sweetness and acidity, and the flavor is generally not as strong as the coffee in the sun, but it is more fresh and mellow, so why not?

The key to this flavor difference comes from the sugar and acid content of the pectin layer. During exposure, the sugar in the pectin layer becomes more and more concentrated, and these sugars soak into the coffee beans.

Yellow honey, red honey, black honey treatment, where is the difference?

When you want to buy honey-treated coffee, you usually have the choice of yellow honey, red honey and black honey. You may have heard of these honey treatments to retain the percentage of pectin layer, and what does this mean?

Coffee farmers will classify coffee, some will retain less pectin layer so that they can be exposed faster, while others will retain more pectin layer and require longer exposure time. Yellow honey (about 25% of the pectin layer) in order to finish faster during exposure, it must be carried out in the least shaded environment (clouds, shade trees) to get a yellow appearance. Red honey (which retains about 50% of the pectin layer) takes longer and needs some shelter to expose itself. Black honey (which retains about 100% of the pectin layer) is usually covered in order to extend the exposure time.

Coffee is treated with yellow honey, red honey and black honey (from left to right)

Which is better, yellow honey, red honey or black honey?

It may be that black honey is better, the flavor of honey treatment will bring more fine and deep influence because of the residual sugar in pectin layer, and the more residual pectin layer, the stronger the flavor. (this is the view of the author of this article. Coffee seedlings think that each treatment has its own flavor, which varies from person to person. )

However, for coffee producers, they have to face another commercial consideration. Although the benefit of black honey treatment is that better quality and better price coffee can be produced, the risk and cost will also be greatly increased. So that it may affect the willingness of farmers to use black honey treatment. The longer the coffee is exposed to the sun, the more likely it is to breed bacteria during fermentation, resulting in defective moldy beans. The beans need to be flipped more frequently and take up more exposure space, up to twice as much as yellow honey treatment. Not only to make high-quality coffee, but also to let coffee farmers produce the most profitable coffee.

Costa Rican coffee

So what does honey treatment mean to you?

Bean baker: the key to honey treatment is to keep the consistency of taste and flavor.

The challenge that bean bakers often face is how to make the formula beans, or to maintain a certain formula flavor as much as possible. This means that it is necessary to understand not only honey treatment, but also other treatments in order to be helpful for mixed beans. You can swap beans more accurately, create new recipes, and narrow the flavor options you fill when replacing beans.

However, it is still based on the region, treatment, planting altitude and other conditions, there are many different variables and changes. Don't buy the final coffee blindly just because it's honey-processed coffee. It may have a great sweet, sour and fruity finish, but it's not always the same.

Barista: the knowledge of coffee is valuable

Baristas make coffee for everyone every day, and knowing how to grow, process, harvest and bake coffee from scratch will be of great help to baristas to make coffee with a better flavor, so that you can make a good taste that you have never tasted before. Each cup of coffee is unique, a coffee shop contains rich chocolate and caramel-flavored formula beans, before mixing, its single product may be highly sweet and low-sour tanned Ethiopian coffee.

Know yourself and know the enemy, and absorb all kinds of knowledge with the heart of seeking knowledge, not only for yourself, but also for consumers. If you can tell consumers why tanned Ethiopian coffee is much sweeter than the Indonesian Sumatra coffee they drank last week, consumers will be willing to come back to your coffee shop. People are curious, and when they think the baristas around him know what they want, they will come back to the store.

The particles are full, the acidity is ideal and the aroma is unique and strong.

Tarrazu in Costa Rica is one of the major coffee producing areas in the world. The coffee produced is light and pure in flavor and pleasant in aroma. Costa Rica, with its fertile volcanic soil and good drainage, is the first country in Central America to grow coffee and bananas for commercial value. Coffee and bananas are the country's main exports. Coffee was introduced into Costa Rica from Cuba in 1729 and today its coffee industry is one of the most well-organized industries in the world with a yield of 1700 kg per hectare. Costa Rica, with a population of only 3.5 million, has 400 million coffee trees, and coffee exports account for 25 per cent of the country's total exports. Costa Rica has also benefited from the establishment of the Central American Institute for Agricultural Research (Turrialba of the Central American Agricultural Research Institute, referred to as IAAC) in Tarasu, which is an important international research centre.

High-quality Costa Rican coffee is called "extra hard beans". This kind of coffee can grow above 1500 meters above sea level. Altitude has always been a problem for coffee growers. The higher the altitude, the better the coffee beans, not only because the higher altitude can increase the acidity of the coffee beans and thus increase the flavor, but also because the night temperature at the higher altitude is lower, which can make the trees grow slowly, thus making the coffee beans have a stronger flavor. In addition, due to the high altitude drop caused by sufficient rainfall, is also very beneficial to the growth of coffee trees. However, while there are many advantages to growing coffee at higher elevations, the resulting additional transport costs must be taken into account, which is likely to make coffee production unprofitable. The coffee industry in Costa Rica has adopted new technologies to increase efficiency, including the use of "electric eyes" to select beans and identify coffee beans of irregular size.

Located in the south of the country's capital, San Jos é, Tarasu is one of the most valued coffee growers in the country. La Minita Tarrazu coffee is a famous local product, but its production is limited, about 72600 kilograms a year. It is grown on a piece of land called La Minita, which is owned by the last three generations of the McAlpine family in the UK. In fact, this land can produce more than 450 tons of coffee a year. But Tarasu Latin America coffee is grown without artificial fertilizers or insecticides, and its harvesting and selection are done by hand, in order to avoid some damage to coffee beans caused by air spray selection.

Other coffees worth mentioning are Juan Vinas,PR, H.Tournon, Windmill,SHB, Monte bello and Ssnta Rosa. Fine coffee is generally grown in Geredia and the central canyon. Another striking type of coffee is Sarchi (one of the five towns that represent Costa Rica's Coffee Road), which grows on the slopes of the Poas Volcano volcano, 53km from San Jose. Saatchi, founded in 1949, has a land area of 30770 hectares and grows sugar cane and coffee. This area is also famous for its handicrafts, attracting tourists from all over the world.

The country's coffee industry, originally controlled by the Costa Rican coffee industry company Instituto del Caf é de Costa Rica (ICAFE), has been taken over by the official Coffee Committee (Oficina del Caf é). Among the exported coffee, those products that are considered to be of substandard quality are colored with blue vegetable dyes and then transferred back to China for sale. Coffee consumed domestically (dyed blue or undyed) accounts for about 10% of total production, and local per capita coffee consumption is twice that of Italy or the United States.

About Costa Rican coffee beans (Central America)

Tarrazu, Costa Rica, one of the largest coffee producing areas in the world, is located in the central valley of Costa Rica and in the south of the country's capital, San Jose, where it is rich in alpine volcanic soil. Tarrazu is one of the four premium coffee growing areas in Costa Rica, and three other very important coffee growing areas include Tres Rios, Heredia and Alajuela.

The coffee produced by Tarazu has a light and pure flavor, with bright acidity and citrus or berry-like aroma. The coffee produced in this region is highly regarded in the international coffee market. In Tarazu, there is a glutton bean, La Minita Tarrazu, which is extremely hard to find. Its coffee production is limited, about 72600 kilograms (160000 pounds) a year. It is grown on a piece of land called La Minita, which belongs to the last three generations of the British Mike-McAlpine family. The main reason why it is so popular is that Tara Zurameta does not use artificial fertilizers or pesticides. Its harvesting and selection are also done separately by hand (the reason for this: the damage to coffee beans caused by air spray selection can be avoided to some extent).

Other coffee with good quality in Costa Rica is Juan Vinas,PR; H.Tournon; Windmill,SHB; Monte bellow; Santa Rosa; FJO FJO Sarchi Note: fine Costa Rican coffee beans are called "hard beans", and their classification criteria are as follows:

Special hard bean SHB (Strictly Hard Beans) is above 1200 meters (3900 feet) above sea level.

Good hard bean GHB (Good hard Beans) 1200m above sea level (3900 m / m)

Zhongying bean MHB (Medium Hard Beans) is 500m (3300 ft) above sea level.

Sweet flower fragrance

Costa Rica Honey Process

If you like coffee that is as light and sweet as tea, with a slightly floral, lemon and nutty flavor like melon, honey beans from Costa Rica in Central America may be to your taste. The so-called honey treatment, refers to the first use of a pulper to remove the outer skin of coffee cherry fruit, and then will take? Pectin raw beans with shells are placed on the scaffolding for sun exposure. This water-saving treatment can make the coffee taste sweeter.

Located in the fertile central valley of Costa Rica (Central Valley), the Zamora estate in San Isidro (San Isidro de Heredia) is the winner of the 2012 Costa Rican C.O.E Coffee Competition. The farm is owned by the Rodr  guez Carballo family, who have been producing coffee since 1880. This coffee has a complex taste, with floral aromas and juicy fruit flavors, and the taste is very clean.

Three Wonders Manor Costa Rica Finca Tres Milagros in Costa Rica

In the boutique coffee circle, as long as it is mentioned that Camilo, the owner of the San Tuareo estate, most people agree that because of his unusual enthusiasm for coffee cultivation and innovative experimental spirit, he has become the object of many top Barista cooperation in the world over the years. In 2013, the Facusse family, which has long run Dinant Food Sale in Costa Rica, decided to take advantage of Camilo's successful experience in planting estates in Colombia to start a new manor project in Costa Rica and named it the three Wonders. The name of the three miracles comes from Camilo's belief that all successful manors absolutely have these three factors to cooperate and cooperate with each other. These three elements are coffee trees, farmers and land.

Location was the most important decisive factor in deciding to start the plan for the Costa Rican manor. after a long discussion and land evaluation process, it was finally decided to choose Tarrazu, the highest producing area in Costa Rica, where the estate is located at an altitude of 1450-1750 meters above sea level, and the soil is pozzolanic soil from the Irazu volcano, providing sufficient nutrients for coffee trees. At the same time, Camilo also requires the manor to maintain a low-density coffee planting area, which is more conducive to the absorption and growth of coffee trees, as well as a higher improvement of cup flavor. At present, the planting area of the three Wonders Manor is about 120ha, and the annual top micro-batch output is only about 300bags. In addition, the hardware of the manor is mainly planned according to four key points:

The first is to use the Green House system (Green House System) to provide better humidity, temperature and ventilation of raw coffee beans during the sun-drying phase.

The second is the environmental intercropping symbiosis system (Intercrop System), which not only provides manor ecological diversity by planting different plants, but also helps farmers to control farm ecology.

The third is shade tree planting (Shade Grown System). Most of the Inga trees are used in the manor with some other local trees, so that the growth of coffee trees is in a perfect shade environment to protect the growth of coffee trees.

The fourth is to choose the right coffee variety. At the beginning of planting on the manor, Camilo decided to adopt the traditional coffee variety with low yield but better flavor. In addition to Bourbon and Geisha, F1 is a new variety developed by the French research organization CIRAD in Costa Rica in recent years. F1 is a mixture of Villa Sarchi+Sachimor and Sudan Rume. In addition to the traditional Central American Villa Sarchi flavor, it also has the citrus flavor of the African variety Sudan Rume.

Three Wonders Bourbon Honey three Wonders Manor Bourbon Honey deals with Finca Tres Milagros Bourbon Honey

■ country: Costa Rica

■ producing area: Dota, Tarrazu

■ altitude: 1450-1750 m

■ treatment: honey treatment

■ level: SHB

■ variety: bourbon

■ flavor description: drupe, syrup, brown sugar, honey

Three Wonders F1 Day three Wonders Manor F1 Sunshine Finca Tres Milagros F1 Natural

■ country: Costa Rica

■ producing area: Dota, Tarrazu

■ altitude: 1450-1750 m

■ treatment: insolation

■ level: SHB

■ variety: F1

■ flavor description: peach, fruit juice, cranberry juice, good cleanliness

Three Wonders F1 Honey three Wonders Manor F1 Honey treatment Finca Tres Milagros F1 Honey

■ country: Costa Rica

■ producing area: Dota, Tarrazu

■ altitude: 1450-1750 m

■ treatment: honey treatment

■ level: SHB

■ variety: F1

■ flavor description: syrup, apricot, grape, apple juice, smoky aftertaste

Three miracles geisha day three miracles manor geisha sun Finca Tres Milagros Geisha Natural

■ country: Costa Rica

■ producing area: Dota, Tarrazu

■ altitude: 1450-1750 m

■ treatment: insolation

■ level: SHB

■ breed: geisha

■ flavor description: citrus peel, orange, clean, sweet

Three Wonders Manor Bourbon washes Finca Tres Milagros Bourbon Washed

■ country: Costa Rica

■ producing area: Dota (multi-tower), Tarrazu (Tarazhu)

■ altitude: 1450-1750 m

■ treatment: washing

■ level: SHB

■ variety: bourbon

■ flavor description: light floral aromas, drupe, chocolate, hazelnut, citrus, herbaceous aromas

Raminita is a world-class manor. In the eyes of some people in the coffee industry and barista, she is a king, because last year's WBC champion, Klaus Thomsen of Denmark, used Raminita as the main recipe of espresso, and also used as the structure and flavor of creative drinks. Sure enough, some contestants adopted it in Tokyo this year.

Since the beginning of this year, the McAlpin family has used [La Minita] as the common quality control sign for all the raw beans of the group. All the raw beans exported by the group are marked on the sack car with riding seals. The following is the La Mininta and the logo that has just arrived:

The McAlpin family started running La Minita in 1967. It can be said that when discussing a boutique coffee estate, it is bound to mention "Raminita"! In the cup testing courses of SCAA and SCAE in recent years alone, lecturers mention Raminita almost every time they list taste or high-quality beans, while La Minita not only sells well in Europe for more than 50 years, but also enjoys a high reputation in the American market!

Over the years, La Minita has become famous for its seven characteristics:

Superior geographical conditions and microclimate: Tarazu is the most famous producing area in Costa Rica, but Raminita has two major rivers, the Tarrazu River and the Alumbre River converge in the mountains west of the manor, which can fully adjust the temperature, and the advantage of the west of the manor makes the farm have the advantage of not being too cold in the morning and not cooling too fast in the evening. Rainfall distribution is very good, from flowering to fruiting period, there is moderate rainfall irrigation, moisturizing, high-quality clay layer to provide sufficient nutrients, an average of 4000 to 6000 feet high altitude, so that the hardness of beans is high enough!

The following picture shows the rivers and spectacular waterfalls in the manor area:

[2] selected varieties: there are Caturra, Catuai red, Catuai yellow and Hibrido (i.e. hybird) in the manor. After cup quality test and statistical screening, Caturra and a small amount of old Hibrido are the main ones at present.

[3] strict quality control (1) under the system of rotation and tree replacement, all coffee trees are harvested for five years, that is, the trees with only 50% Michael must be cut down in the fifth year after four years of harvest to rest and wait for harvest when they grow up! There are a total of 1.5 million trees in the farm, with an average of 350000 trees being cut down every year. In addition to planting rotation, we have to change trees! Each coffee tree is harvested for only 15 years, and it is replaced 15 years later to ensure its quality. 150000 coffee trees are replaced each year and shade trees are planted around the coffee trees to plant them.

[4] the procedure of the wet treatment field is very strict and the drying machine is used after the treatment.

The following picture shows an aerial view of the wet treatment plant and some of its equipment.

[5] the elimination rate of raw beans is more than 70%, that is, less than 29% of raw beans can be sold as La Minita manor beans.

[6] in the final selection stage of raw beans, it takes 30, 000 man-hours to select carefully, and only qualified ones can be marked with La Minita.

The manual screening of the following figure is the final stage.

[7] use your heart! For example, Harvesting, Pruning and processing are all handled very carefully; in the harvest period, Raminita's coffee trees are harvested in five batches on average, because only the most ripe cherry fruits are picked, while batch harvesting requires a great deal of labor and patience. Pruning is rotational planting, a system that ensures that the land is not too barren and ensures that the quality of raw beans can be maintained at its peak without the use of chemical fertilizers; processing refers to the treatment of coffee fruits after harvest, and in 2001, La Minita had its own wet treatment plant, with the aim of maintaining consistent quality.

The picture shows the manor manager introducing the coffee tree and the process of planting and pruning, with La Minita beans being bagged on the other side:

This year La Minita's spices are sweet and berries are still the same! And the clean and changeable flavor generally maintains the usual elegant demeanor, especially this year more Tokyo WBC competition contestants use as formula beans, each shows her magic power, and presents her charming and diverse flavor, this is Raminita!

The following is the cup test report of 2007 la Minita: (Oshe M0 baking degree, Japanese Fuji 1kg bean baking machine, 11 minutes pot)

Country: Costa Rica: Tarazu Manor: Raminita La Minita

Harvest time: February 2007

Variety: caturra, old hibrido treatment: washing fermentation, the latter stage of the first sun and then low-temperature drying

Grade: SHB appearance / defects: green 0d/350g

Dry aroma: similar to elegant perfume, alpine tea, sweet candy, sour berries and apples, grapes, clean and elegant aromas

Wet fragrance: a variety of berries, caramel, cream, flowers, slightly spicy aromas

Sipping: raspberry lime sour, caramel, good grease, elegant apple, melon, tea, grapefruit sour and sweet, clean aftertaste and unique spice sweetness, the aftertaste is not tight and delicious.

Selling price

Bulk discount price (description)

Tarazhu Diamond Mountain, Costa Rica-Costa Rica Tarrazu SHB Montanas del Diamante Estate

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In the quotation in April, Lianjie Coffee, which specializes in the import and sale of raw beans of coffee from various countries, has entered a new Diamond Hill Manor in the Tarazu producing area of Costa Rica, marked as extremely hard beans grown in the mountains 1800 meters above sea level. Although it is packed in linen bags, it has a number of plastic inner bags (GrainPro Bag). It is supposed to have a certain level of quality and the price is also approachable. Let's take a look at a 5-kilogram package.

At the same time, the data of Costa Rican Diamond Hill searched on the Internet are as follows:

ORIGIN: Costa Rica

REGION: Tarrazu

SUBREGION: Dota Valley

PRODUCER: Montanas Del Diamante Estate/Gutierrez Family

PLANT SPECIES: Arabica

PROCESSING METHOD: Washed

PROCESSING DESCRIPTION: The coffee is fully washed and patio dried.

WET MILL NAME: Montanas del Diamante Mill

COFFEE GRADE: SHB EP

SCREEN SIZE: 15 Up

GROWING ALTITUDE: 1750-1850m

ANNUAL RAINFALL (MM): 250

SOIL TYPE: Volcanic

PLANT VARIETAL (S): Red Catuai

TYPES: Estate Coffees, Grain Pro / Ecotact

It is also mentioned on another website that most of the varieties grown here are Red Catuai, a hybrid of Caturra and Mundo Novo. The granules of this batch of raw beans are not large, about 15 mesh. I wonder if they are the characteristics of this variety.

This time it was not very shallow, and the baking degree was about 3 minutes before it was allowed to come down, so the overall acidity is much milder, and the aroma is not very prominent, which can be smelled from raw beans, but the cleanliness of the taste is quite satisfactory, and the supple citrus is sour, which should be acceptable to even friends who don't drink sour coffee very much. The sweetness and cocoa taste of the latter part of the black molasses lasted for a long time before dissipating in the mouth.

In recent years, Costa Rica has not let everyone down, and the Cmax P value has left Guatemala far behind. Whether it is made into a single product or put into a comprehensive formula, it is a good choice.

Costa Rica, Tara Pearl producing area, Diamond Villa Garden, Costa Rica Tarrazu, Montanas del Diamante Estate, Coffee beans, Raw beans, Linking Coffee, Costa Rican Diamond Hills

Costa Rican coffee Mozart raisin double honey treated Etalazu Canet Bach coffee beans

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Costa Rican Red Honey treats Tobosi Tobusch Manor Kaddura boutique Coffee

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