Coffee was first brought to Costa Rica during the last decade of the eighteenth century. So we are told in a letter sent by Panamanian trader Agustín de Gana to the Governor of Costa Rica, Don José Vásquez y Téllez, announcing that he was sending two pounds of coffee.
Coffee and Costa Rica were meant for each other, and they have grown and prospered together, complementing each other in the pursuit of excellence. Costa Rica repealed the death penalty in 1870 and abolished the army in 1948, and coffee supported those reforms with its high productivity and environmentally friendly disposition.
In a country which has enacted laws protecting 21% of its territory in order to preserve the 5% of the world´s biodiversity it shelters, Costa Ricans are encouraged by their environment to love what they do, and to do it well.
In its desire to protect the environment, Costa Rica has carefully tended the soils and climate that are best suited to coffee production. As Costa Rica ´s soils have been enriched by volcanic ash, they contain a slight degree of tropical acidity. They are also rich in organic matter, which makes for good distribution of the coffee plant´s root system, enabling them to retain humidity and facilitating oxygenation. This combination of factors invigorates the coffee plants and is one of many elements contributing to the quality of Costa Rican coffee.
Over 70% of the country´s coffee is produced in the mountains, which vary in altitude from 3,280 to 5,580 feet above sea level. Mountain temperatures range from 63 to 73 degrees Fahrenheit. Sunlight is stable, and precipitation levels are ideal. All this makes for as dependable and high-quality a coffee crop as any produced in a greenhouse.
Costa Rica is the only country in the world which has issued an executive order (N°19302-MAG, 4 December 1989) banning the production of any variety of coffee other than Arabica. This standard is made possible by the expertise, experience and favorable physical conditions which converge in this remarkable land.
7 regions, 7 coffees...
The excellence of Costa Rican coffee can be enjoyed in seven different ways, given that the country has many different coffee-producing zones. The special traits of the coffee produced in each of these zones are famous worldwide. Costa Rica ´s advantageous climate enables it to produce enough coffee varieties to satisfy every taste.
In Costa Rica , rainfall, relative humidity and temperature tend to be lower in the higher altitudes, although there are significant differences between the Pacific and Atlantic regions of the country. Altitude influences climate and affects the overall size and hardness of the coffee bean, as well as the quality of the brew, particularly its acidity. In addition, the Arabica variety has special characteristics that produce an aromatic, delicate good-tasting coffee.
The seven coffee-producing regions are divided between the lowlands (at altitudes of less than 1,000 meters), which produce a lighter coffee, and the highlands (at altitudes of over 1,200 meters), where the soils are volcanic in origin and produce a stronger, more acidic, more aromatic coffee.
All the coffee-producing regions of Costa Rica have joined in signing a quality improvement agreement, whereby the owners of processing plants in each region undertake to produce coffee of the highest quality. By accepting only ripe cherries, the processing plant owners insure that only the finest coffee is processed.
- Tarrazú
- Brunca
- Orosí
- Tres Ríos
- Turrialba
- Valle Occidental
- Valle Central