Characteristics of Costa Rican coffee beans the origin of Costa Rican coffee beans

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 Society for Agricultural Research (Turrialba of the Central American Agricultural Research Institute, IAAC) in Tarasu, which is an important international research centre.

Costa Rican coffee producing area

Costa Rican coffee producing area

Costa Rican coffee beans

Costa Rican coffee beans

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 Tarasurameta coffee is grown without artificial fertilizers or insecticides, and its harvest 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. The 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.