The story
Coffee was planted in Costa Rica in the late 1700s, according to the importer Cafe Imports, and it was the first country in Central America to build a full coffee industry. After independence from Spain in 1821, the new government handed out free coffee seeds to encourage farming, says the green-coffee trader Sucafina. The first shipment to England left in 1843, and for most of the 1800s coffee was the country's only export.
Today Costa Rica is a small producer. Cafe Imports puts it at under 1 percent of world output, and Sucafina at about 1.3 million 60 kg bags a year. What it is known for is quality and variety in a small space.
The national coffee institute, ICAFE, was set up in 1933. ICAFE says all of Costa Rica's coffee is Arabica, and that planting Robusta, a hardier but lower-quality species, has been banned by law since 1989. It also says more than 80 percent of the coffee land sits between 800 and 1,600 metres, on volcanic soils.
ICAFE and the importers list eight growing regions: Tarrazú, the West Valley, the Central Valley, Tres Ríos, Brunca, Orosi, Turrialba and Guanacaste. Cafe Imports calls Tarrazú perhaps the most famous, with high farms that give its coffee crisp acidity. The West Valley has produced many Cup of Excellence winners and grows local varieties such as Villa Sarchi and Villa Lobos. The Central Valley has sharply defined wet and dry seasons. According to ICAFE, the lower regions, below about 1,000 metres, tend to give lighter coffee, while the volcanic highlands above 1,200 metres give coffee that is more acidic and more aromatic.
Most farms are small. Sucafina says about 90 percent of the country's 50,000 coffee farmers are smallholders. Costs are high, so many farmers compete on quality rather than volume, and some are trying newer varieties such as SL-28 and Gesha alongside Caturra and Catuaí.
How it's processed
A coffee bean is the seed inside a small fruit called a cherry. After picking, the fruit has to come off and the seed has to dry, and how that is done shapes the flavour. ICAFE says Costa Rican coffee is picked by hand, and that mills in each region have agreed to accept only ripe cherries.
The big change of the last twenty years is the micro-mill. Until the early 2000s most small farmers sold their cherries to cooperative mills, where lots were mixed. Since then many have built their own small mills, with machines to remove the skin and fruit. That lets them keep each farm's coffee separate, try different methods, and sell it under their own name. Sucafina notes that specialty lots are now almost as likely to carry the name of the micro-mill as the name of the farm.
Costa Rica is closely linked with the honey process. Cafe Imports says it began there. The skin is removed but some or all of the sticky fruit layer, called mucilage, stays on the bean while it dries. Mills label their honey coffees yellow, red or black. Some get these by leaving different amounts of mucilage on; others leave all of it on and change how the coffee is dried. The terms are not standard, so a "red honey" from one mill may not match another's.
Strict rules on water pollution play a part too. Sucafina says that because waste-water filters are costly, fully washed coffee is less common than it was, and many mills use machines rather than water to strip the mucilage. Washed coffees are still made, and natural coffees, dried with the whole fruit on, have grown in popularity. ICAFE's own page describes a wet-milling sector, so the balance between methods depends on the source and the year.
The sources disagree slightly on timing. Cafe Imports gives the harvest as December to April; Sucafina gives October to March.
What it tastes like
Costa Rican coffee has long been described as clean and fairly mild. Cafe Imports calls its reputation "relatively good, if often mild", while noting how much more range the regions and micro-mills now offer.
Altitude matters. ICAFE links higher farms with more acidity and aroma, and Cafe Imports describes Tarrazú coffee as having crisp acidity. Tres Ríos coffee is described as smoother and milder, with toffee sweetness and soft citrus.
Processing matters too. Sucafina says Costa Rican coffees are now valued for a wide range of flavours tied to their place and processing. Because one micro-mill may make several styles from the same farm, the tasting notes on each coffee are a better guide than any country-wide rule.