Costa Rican Dota Tarrazu Hermosa

Dynamic, flavourful Grade A coffee from the Los Santos zone of Costa Rica.

Roast: Full City (4/7) (Medium)

Tasting Notes: Apricot, Honey, Chocolate and Citrus

Altitude: 1500-1800 MASL

Variety: Caturra and Catuai
Processing Method: Washed

Story:

Costa Rican coffee is renowned as some of the best in the world for a variety of reasons. It is the only country in the world where it is illegal to produce any type of coffee other than 100% Arabica beans, considered the highest quality coffee. Whilst Arabica beans are harder to grow than other coffee varietals, this law has pushed farmers to aim for the best quality, resulting in beans that are rich, full-bodied, and often used in premium blends.[3]

Arabica coffee plants need very specific conditions to grow; the small temperature fluctuations (only about 10°C variations year-round), high rainfall and high altitudes give an ideal climate for farming coffee. The majority of the coffee grown in Costa Rica is within their mountainous region, where the soil is enriched with volcanic ash, oxygenating the soil and giving the matured beans richer flavours.[3]

This coffee is processed by Coope Dota. Established in 1960 they now represent around 900 small growers in the region and hold the title as the first coffee processor in the world to be certified as carbon neutral, back in 2011.[4]

Prior to the cooperatives' arrival, coffee farming in the area was difficult. The farmers struggled to grow coffee due to little/no expertise in aronomy. There were no wet mills nearby which meant long trips to be able to process their coffee. The coffee was then sold to middlemen who paid producers unfairly.[29]

Since the cooperatives' establishment, these producers have had a local location to process their coffee and have been educated in soil management and crop production, resulting in higher-quality coffee and fair prices for the producers. The cooperative have also invested a lot into the local infrastructure, providing significantly better facilities for local farmers.[29]

This coffee is from the Dota and Tarrazú cantons within the San José province. This area is well known for its more acidic notes but roasting to a City/Full city removes some of the acidity and replaces it with some complex tasting notes of Caramel, Chocolate and Black Tea.[5]