Cupping desk at Finca Las Lajas. Courtesy of Magnolia Espresso Co.
If there’s a coffee-producing nation that has change into the poster youngster for intentionality, it’s Costa Rica. Producers right here have spent twenty years doubling down on precision — processing, lot separation, traceability — whereas authorities coverage has largely supported farmer incomes and pushed sustainability ahead. At present, the end result within the cup is a hedonic sensory spectrum, from crystalline washed profiles to extravagantly fruit-forward experimental heaps, with an ever-tighter relationship between taste, terroir and course of.
The Micro-Mill Ethos (Nonetheless) Defines the Origin
Roaster David Grimm, of Regulator Roasting Firm, and his household on a go to to Finca Las Lajas. Courtesy of Regulator Roasting Firm.
Costa Rica’s early-2000s micro-mill revolution — households putting in their very own moist mills and managing drying in-house — created at present’s terroir-plus-process identification. By promoting traceable microlots immediately, smaller producers captured worth, experimented with processing, and constructed farm-level manufacturers. That motion stays the spine of Costa Rica’s specialty profile: single-farm washed coffees with laser-cut readability; honey heaps starting from yellow to black; and meticulously managed naturals and anaerobics designed for intrepid palates.
Marcus Younger and Raul Velasco of goodboybob on the cupping desk. Courtesy of goodboybob.
Costa Rica’s coffee-growing areas are rightly known as out by producers for his or her inherent range of terroir that influences cup character. The nation’s eight predominant producing areas —Tarrazú, West Valley, Central Valley, Tres Ríos, Brunca, Orosí, Turrialba, and Guanacaste — span a spread of altitudes from about 1,200 to over 2,000 meters, with Tarrazú’s high-elevation farms producing a number of the most impressively structured coffees. Volcanic soils dominate a lot of the panorama, contributing mineral richness and glorious drainage that encourages sluggish cherry maturation and dense bean growth. A marked dry season throughout harvest promotes even ripening and clear processing, whereas cool nights at altitude protect acidity and fragrant complexity. These elements mixed make Costa Rica well-positioned to ship coffees with crystalline readability, elegant construction, and a large spectrum of taste — from complicated citrus and spice-toned florals in high-elevation washed heaps to lush tropical fruit in rigorously managed naturals and honey-processed coffees.
Coverage, Transparency and Local weather: A Regulated Lab for High quality
Costa Rica’s espresso board, ICAFE, operates inside a authorized framework extremely regarded for transparency, together with a revenue-sharing rule that hyperlinks farmer funds to mill revenues and restrictions that form vertical relationships alongside the chain. Educational and coverage analyses recommend that these guidelines assist common farmers whereas imposing actual market construction constraints; the web impact is a sector that prizes accountability and high quality premiums.
Producer Juan Ramon Alvarado (proper) of the Brumas Del Zurqui micromill. Courtesy of Willoughby’s Espresso.
On the similar time, Costa Rica has been a worldwide pioneer in low-carbon espresso. The NAMA (Nationally Acceptable Mitigation Motion) Café program — usually described because the world’s first agricultural NAMA — coordinates ministries, ICAFE, and personal actors to scale back emissions at farm and mill, enhance useful resource effectivity, and place “low-emission espresso” as a market attribute. A number of assessments doc the initiative’s attain and its burgeoning variety of espresso producers farming below climate-smart practices.
Who’s Rising: Fewer Producers, Extra Specialization
The variety of Costa Rican espresso producers has fallen by roughly half over the previous decade (to round 25,000), a symptom of consolidation and rising prices in a high-standard financial system. But, the producers who stay usually function as quality-forward specialists, leaning into microlots, direct relationships with roasters, and agritourism. The result’s a market through which fewer, extra professionalized farms compete on cup distinction somewhat than quantity.
Espresso drying at Ivan Gutierrez’s Tarrazú farm, Finca La Esmeralda. Courtesy of Dou Zhai Espresso & Roastery.
Processing Innovation: From Honey to Managed Fermentations
Costa Rica’s signature stays the honey course of — a scale outlined by how a lot mucilage stays on the parchment throughout drying (white, yellow, crimson, black, every darker step usually growing fruit depth). Over the previous decade, processors have mastered anaerobic and carbonic maceration kinds with outstanding management: fruit sorting by Brix, temperature-regulated tanks or baggage, cautious timelines, and sluggish drying on raised beds. When well-executed, these coffees are buoyant, clear, and dessert-like somewhat than boozy — suppose hibiscus and stone fruit somewhat than rum cordial. When pushed too far, ferment markers can dominate. The nation’s micro-mill self-discipline retains so many of those heaps exact somewhat than random.
Pricey to Produce, Well worth the Premium
Costa Rica’s price of manufacturing is among the many highest within the espresso world. That actuality underpins the nation’s strategic flip towards microlots, differentiation, and carbon/traceability initiatives. And like a lot of Central America, Costa Rica sits on the entrance strains of local weather change, perennially going through erratic rains, rising temperatures, strain from espresso leaf rust, and better pest masses. So, whilst you can anticipate to pay for the mitigation of those realities, you can even anticipate tactile class, managed sweetness, and an nearly architectural readability that roasters like to showcase.
Why Costa Rica Issues for Espresso Lovers
Practically 20 years after its micro-mill breakthrough, Costa Rica nonetheless units the usual for origin-level precision. It’s a spot the place coverage, sustainability, and craft have converged: Farmers are inspired (and sometimes required) to maintain rigorous accounts; mills refine processing with scientific self-discipline; and nationwide packages chase lowered emissions with out sacrificing cup high quality. Volumes could fluctuate and the grower base could shrink, however the nation’s worth proposition has by no means been clearer: distinctive heaps with clear economics and a fancy taste vocabulary compelling sufficient to thrill the best-traveled palates.
Coffeebox’s roaster, CoCo, brewing espresso at a non-public dinner. Courtesy of Coffeebox.
For roasters and drinkers in 2025, which means a reliable core of basic washed coffees for pour-overs and batch brews — and a gradual stream of small, exacting microlots that justify their value for the sensory novelty they supply.
On the Espresso Overview Cupping Desk
What a whirlwind this was! Roasters from everywhere in the U.S. and Taiwan submitted Costa Rica coffees for our blind cupping. There have been no restrictions on area, selection, processing methodology or roast model, however we will solely publish critiques of the highest-scoring coffees, so there may be, not surprisingly, some redundancy amongst a few farms now solidly established as processing consultants whose coffees are particularly wanted by roasters.
Regent Espresso’s Los Angeles cafe, Brew & Bottle Home. Courtesy of Regent Espresso.
And whereas Costa Rica has eight distinct coffee-growing areas, and we cupped samples from all of them, the lion’s share of excessive scores got here from Tarrazú, arguably the nation’s greatest regarded for its mixture of altitude, local weather, and cup consistency. What units Tarrazú aside is its reliability 12 months after 12 months: Excessive-elevation farms, volcanic soil, and a definite dry harvest season give producers the instruments to ship cup profiles with hallmark citrus, florals, and a crisp construction that specialty roasters can confidently function as single-origin choices or mix parts. In different phrases, whereas different areas produce glorious espresso, Tarrazú has change into synonymous with Costa Rica’s highest-quality export commonplace.
Total scores ranged from 86-96, whereas the highest 10 reviewed right here vary from 93 to 96, a really spectacular displaying. Learn all of them right here and discover your greatest pura vida vibe.
GK Espresso, Costa Rica Mirazù Catajo Geisha Mix – 96 factors
Coffeebox Espresso, Costa Rica Mirazù Property – 95 factors
Magnolia Espresso, Costa Rica Las Lajas Double Diamond – 95 factors
Daybreak Isle Espresso Studio, Costa Rica Perkin Sakura – 94 factors
Dou Zhai Cafe & Roastery, Costa Rica Ivan Gutierrez Tarrazú Geisha – 94 factors
Inexperienced Stone Espresso, Costa Rica Honey Course of – 94 factors
Willoughby’s Espresso & Tea, Costa Rica Brumas del Zurqui Geisha – 94 factors
Goodboybob, Costa Rica Rio Negro – 93 factors
Regent Espresso, Costa Rica San Isidro – 93 factors
Regulator Roasting, Costa Rica Las Lajas Cumbres del Poas – 93 factors
