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What are the well-known coffee regions in Costa Rica? What are the characteristics?

Published: 2026-02-25 Author:

Last Updated: 2026/02/25, Central America is a long and narrow land connecting South America and North America. The terrain here is mainly plateaus and mountains, and a volcanic belt stretching more than 1300 kilometers long stretches on the Pacific side. The country in this area is not large, and most of the land is mountainous forest areas with a hot and humid climate. However, due to the accumulation of volcanic ash, the soil is fertile,

Central America is a narrow strip of land connecting South America and North America. The topography here is dominated by plateaus and mountains, with a volcanic belt stretching more than 1300 kilometers on one side of the Pacific Ocean. The area of the country in this region is small, most of the land is mountainous forest, the climate is hot and humid, but due to the accumulation of volcanic ash, fertile soil, coffee, bananas and other agricultural industries are developed.

As a result, Central America has a number of countries famous for producing coffee, such as Honduras, Costa Rica and Panama. Costa Rica was the first in Central America to introduce and grow coffee because of its commercial value, and it was once known as the "golden bean" by the British aristocracy.

"Costa Rica" means "rich coast" in Spanish, and the name describes Costa Rica's rich natural resources and biodiversity. The topography of Costa Rica is mainly composed of the central plateau and mountainous areas, with an average elevation of between 800 and 2000 meters.

The Cordillera mountains runs through central Costa Rica, separates the east and west sides and is full of volcanoes. 30 per cent of the country is a national park or nature reserve and is rich in natural resources. The climate of Costa Rica is mainly tropical rain forest climate and savanna climate, which is divided into two seasons of drought and rain, with an annual temperature of 17-28 ℃. High-altitude mountains, volcanic soil, plenty of sunshine and appropriate rainfall provide ideal conditions for coffee growth.

In addition, the Costa Rican government also attaches great importance to the development of the coffee industry. After Costa Rica became independent from Spain in the 19th century, the government handed out seeds to farmers free of charge and implemented a tax-free policy. as a result, many people are attracted to join the ranks of coffee growers. After that, an Anglo-Costa Rican bank was set up to finance the development of land, cultivated land cultivation, and the establishment of treatment plants.

After that, the Coffee Defense Agency (Institute for the Defence of Coffee) was established to protect small coffee farmers from exploitation, and in 1948 it became the Costa Rican Coffee Institute (Instituto del Cafe de Costa Rica or ICAFE), which aims to teach farmers to grow and promote Costa Rican coffee globally by setting up experimental farms, researching and developing agricultural and industrial technologies.

There are seven coffee producing areas in Costa Rica, namely: the Western Valley (Valley Central Occidental), the Central Valley (Valley Central), the Tarazu (Tarrazu), the Sanshui River (Tres Rios), Orosi (Orosi), Brunca (Bronka) and Turrialba (Duli Alba). Almost all of these areas are distributed in the central mountains.

The Tara Zhu producing area is the largest and best-known producing area in the country, located in the province of San Jose, but it was originally called Los Santos Los Santos. However, because the Tarazu became famous earlier in the region, the Costa Rican government registered the coffee origin name "Caf é de Tarraz ú" with the European Union and the World intellectual property Organization (WIPO) in 2019, so people are used to dividing the coffee producing areas into major categories by "Tarrazu".

The producing area is located in the volcanic area, where coffee is grown on a hillside of 1200-1900 meters, where there is a humid climate and volcanic soil, abundant rainfall throughout the year, a number of mountains and national parks around it, and a natural shade of dense forests. it can be said that coffee growth provides a unique planting environment. Qianjie Coffee has a washed Costa Rican Tarazu coffee bean, as an entry selection, with slightly sour, sweet orange, nutty and honey flavor.

In addition to Tarrazu, there is also the Central Valley (Central Valley), which is the first coffee-producing area in Costa Rica's history, and other coffee-producing areas have been established by the spread of this area. And the production area is close to the capital San Jose, coffee exports have driven the capital's economy, many public facilities, such as hospitals, post offices, railways, have been built, and the central valley still produces 15% of the country's coffee.

The Central Valley, which spans the provinces of Alajuela, San Jos é and Heredia, and nearby the famous Costa Rican volcanoes Volc á n Po á s and Volcan Iraz ú, provide the region with very fertile and mineral-rich soil. Coffee is grown on hillsides 1200-1600 meters above sea level, coupled with a suitable climate, which makes the area very suitable for coffee trees.