Costa Rica green coffee beans
Costa Rica's history is inextricably linked to coffee production: on the eve of the country's independence from Spain (1821), local authorities distributed free coffee seeds as a means of promoting coffee production to support the economy. Coffee was the only export commodity until 1890. Costa Rican manufacturers were among the first to "respond" to the global movement towards cup quality; although back in the 1980s, the coffee beans quality of Costa Rica was mainly broken down into primitive SHB and HB.
Today, Costa Rica green coffee beans occupy a leading position in the microlot segment, which allows you to track specific batches to a unique farm or area. This is an ideal place to promote the idea of growing specialty coffee: many different microclimates provide excellent taste characteristics, determined by coffee varieties, latitude, altitude, soil type, rainfall and temperature fluctuations. Most farmers in Costa Rica do not have the equipment to process their own coffee, and during the day they pick cherries and deliver them to a private or cooperative processing station in their region in the afternoon.
Assortment of the Costa Rican green coffee
Beans produced:
2020 / 7.3 million bags (60 kg each)
World market share in kg (Arabica and Robusta):
4.3%
Coffee beans export revenue:
$329 million
Harvest:
November - March
Altitude: from 1200 to 1700 meters above sea level.
The main varieties of Costa Rican whole bean coffee grown on an area of about 22,000 hectares are Caturra and Catuai; in some cases, the remains of Villa Sarchi and Villalobos can be found here.
Thanks to the microclimate and the ability to harvest ripe cherries in the drier summer months, West Valley produces some of the best lots in Costa Rica.
Altitude: from 1000 to 1200 meters above sea level.
Influenced by the watershed of the Pacific Ocean, the privileged Central Valley is characterized by well-defined wet and dry seasons and temperate altitudes. The soil of this region has a low tropical acidity due to the enrichment by volcanic ash.
The plantations of Costa Rican green coffee here are some of the oldest in the region but are also rapidly disappearing due to pressure from the population and industrial development. Some varieties of bourbon are still grown in the Central Valley.
Altitude: from 800 to 1200 meters above sea level.
Some high-quality specialty is produced on the highest farms in the region, but most products are of medium standard quality and are grown by large cooperatives.
The other 5% of Costa Rican coffee grown is grown in Guanacaste, Oros and Turrialba at lower altitudes of about 600-900 meters above sea level.
