Costa Rica

Thanks to a decade and a half of processing innovation, these days it is refreshingly hard to describe Costa Rica’s coffee profile as a whole. It has become common for producers of all sizes to create a kaleidoscope of profiles ranging from squeaky clean and citrusy fully washed coffees, through a detailed spectrum of light to heavy-handed honey processed coffees, to rich and perfumed naturals. 

It’s good to be a coffee farm owner in Costa Rica. Central America’s highest quality of life and best social welfare is here, along with some of coffee’s smoothest transit, well-maintained logistics, and coffee germplasm resources. Costa Rica’s government has an excellent record of thinking openly and critically about resource conservation, both environmentally and economically (the country has no standing military, imagine what that does for one’s budget). All of this adds up to what is, broadly speaking, one of the most trusting and peaceful coffee sectors in Latin America. Indeed, one of Royal’s oldest relationships in Costa Rica, Roberto Montero of Hacienda La Amistad, donated 60% of his family land to the government for preservation; the result was Parque Internacional La Amistad, Central America’s largest natural reserve.  

Until the mid-aughts, Costa Rica’s modern coffee history is largely one of cooperatives. Far beyond processing and exporting, cooperatives in Costa Rica operate banks, grocery stores, equipment sales and mechanics, all for member use. Such organizations more resemble miniature governments than they do a basic service provider model. Costa Rica’s coops continue to be considered shining examples of sustainable farmer ecosystems. CoopeDota alone is Rain Forest Alliance certified, has been carbon neutral for 10 years, and has been awarded a government seal for its embodiment of Costa Rican values.  

The dominance of the coops in Costa Rica meant most coffee farmers prior to 2005 did not process their own coffee. Naturally, however, for some growers the dependency on market-based prices for cherry or being unable to differentiate or promote their best qualities, was a consistent challenge. As demand for traceable and unique coffees grew in the early 2000s, a breakaway movement was started: small producers began installing their own compact wet-milling machinery and drying spaces, and processing their own coffee start to finish at home. Known as the “micro-mill revolution”, the new trend of small-farm processing led to a burst of entrepreneurialism among certain farmers. Exporters followed, meeting demand with microlot logistics to market the wide variety now available from Costa Rica’s best farms.  

In Costa Rica processing tools of equal precision are available to a single family and their 10-hectare parcel or an 800-member cooperative; made even more accessible thanks to the country’s high living standards and resources for farmers. Cultivars, elevation, and soil may be largely consistent across the country, but thanks to a recent processing renaissance, the results are anything but. So, cupping offers each year, and watching producers find their signature profiles over time, is an ongoing delight. 

Coffee is produced throughout Costa Rica’s central and southern valleys, between high ridgelines and typically small plots of 10 hectares or less. 

• West valley/Alajuela 
• Tarrazu 
• South/brunca/amistad 

Thanks to a decade and a half of processing innovation, these days it is actually refreshingly hard to describe Costa Rica’s coffee profile as a whole. It has become common for producers of all sizes to create a kaleidoscope of profiles ranging from squeaky clean and citrusy fully washed coffees, through a detailed spectrum of light to heavy-handed honey processed coffees, to rich and perfumed naturals. 

Growers have long favored the bountiful and shrubby dwarf cultivars of caturra and catuaí, but villa sarchi, bourbon, gesha, and countless others are available to growers through Costa Rica’s Centro Agronómico Tropical de Investigación y Enseñanza (CAITE), an international research and conservation institute with one of the world’s biggest repositories of coffee genetics 

Costa Rica follows other Central America producing countries, with most elevations harvesting coffee between November and March, and shipping coffee from January into the summer months. 

Fully washed processing is still the majority of exports, and yet arguably no other origin is as synonymous with specialty honey processing these days than Costa Rica. Micro-mills and larger cooperatives or estates alike have become specialists in fine-tuned variations of honey processing, often using mechanical demucilagination to remove various degrees of mucilage before drying for a specific cup profile. Naturals and anaerobics are also easy to find, and tend to dominate Cup of Excellence winner lists each year.  

Coffee in Costa Rica is hand-picked and harvesting is often measured in two domestic forms: cajuelas—a standard size box or basket that holds about 4.5 gallons, or 12.5kg of typical cherry; and fanegas—250kg or about 20 cajuelas, used more to track transport and storage of larger volumes. In the case of fully-washed coffee, cherry is most often mechanically depulped and demucilaged, fermented, washed and then dried mechanically or on patios. Smaller farms of 5-20 hectares are more likely here than other Central American countries to be in posession of high-quality pulping and demucilaginating equipment, processing for themselves as well as neighboring farms, who may also have equity in the infrastructure.  

While cooperatives have waned in membership since the specialty processing boom in Costa Rica, many are still robust, comprehensive regional businesses providing many resources to remote farming families, not to mention exporting the vast majority of Costa Rica’s organic certified coffee. 

Costa Rica’s value in the specialty market, beyond objective cup quality, comes from its specificity. Micro-mills and individual estates are often perfect matches in volume for small to medium-sized specialty roasters looking for relationship coffee. Producers at the helm of hyper-regional processing operations are usually very experienced and entrepreneurial but also community-oriented. When successful, micro-mills and small estates are ideal small businesses to have as suppliers for roasters who themselves are quality-driven, entrepreneurial and community-minded.