Costa Rica Coffee

A good Costa Rican coffee, typically of the coffee plant varietal Caturra (Coffea arabica var. caturra), has a good body, often full, and a rich, robust flavor and crisp acidity.

In particular the high-grown coffees of Costa Rica are distinguished, and notable for their good body and fruity and bright acidity with a clean and crisp taste.

Costa Rica Monte Crisol

One of Costa Rica’s finest coffee’s is Costa Rica Monte Crisol, grown in the country’s West Central Valley. Monte Crisol coffee is known for its sweetness, silky body, and fruity brightness. The brewed coffee also exhibits topnotes of blueberry and has a buttery finish.

Heredia, Alajuela, Tres Rios, and Tarrazu

Coffees from Costa Rica’s Heredia and Alajuela regions are known for their full body and rich, robust flavor and acidity. Tres Rios is near the coast of the Pacific Ocean and is known to produce bright coffees with a sweet, mild flavor. The Tarrazu region is located in the country’s interior mountains, and coffees from this area is known to be relatively heavy-bodied, exhibiting a a complex aroma.

San Marcos de Tarrazu in particular is known to produce a distinguished coffee. La Minita Coffee Farm in Tarrazu is known for its premium gourmet coffee.

Costa Rica Coffee Plant Varietals

Other coffee plant varietals grown in Costa Rica include Caturra (Coffea arabica var. caturra), known to produce a full-bodied, bright coffee, Catuai (Coffea arabica var. catuai) and Mondo Novo (Coffea arabica var. mondo novo).

Costa Rica’s Villa Sarchi varietal (Coffea arabica var. villa sarchi) is derived from the Caturra varietal (Coffea arabica var. caturra) and the Bourbon varietal (Coffea arabica var. bourbon).

Sarchimor and Timor Coffee Plant Varietals

Another coffee plant varietal grown in Costa Rica is known as Sarchimor and is a hybrid between the Timor varietal and the Costa Rican Villa Sarchi varietal (Coffea arabica var. villa sarchi).

Due to traits inherited from the Timor varietal (which is itself a hybrid of Coffea canephora var. robusta and Coffea arabica), Sarchimor has a significant resistance to the coffee disease coffee leaf rust as well as the stem borer. The Sarchimor varietal grows in India as well as Costa Rica.

Costa Rica Coffee Grading Methods

The coffee grading system of Costa Rica coffees is altitude based, and grades by hardness, which is affected by altitude. More precisely, it is affected by how long the coffee cherry (fruit) takes to mature on the coffee plant. In general, higher regions producing denser, and thus harder coffee beans.

The Costa Rican grading system includes the following classifications: Strictly Hard Beans (SHB), which grow higher than 3,900 feet above sea level; Good Hard Beans (GHB), which grow at elevations between 3,300 feet and 3,900 feet, and Medium Hard Beans (MHB), which grow at elevations from 1,600 feet to 3,000 feet.