COSTA RICAN SHB — VIENNA ROAST —
With altitudes over 3,000 feet above sea level, this area develops a fine flavored hard bean coffee, exporting 2.2 million bags yearly.
Over a hundred years ago, Costa Rica mandated that every family grow at least a few bushes of coffee on their property. Additionally, they offered large plots of land to those who would be willing to grow coffee and devote their lives to it. The result is that today the Costa Ricans know their coffee, and your favorite Coffee of the Month Club is pleased to share it with you. They treat their plantations as though they are fine tropical gardens. Costa Rican coffees are some of the world’s finest.
Bordered to the north by Nicaragua and to the east by Panama, Costa Rica has both a Caribbean and a Pacific coast. A series of volcanic mountain chains run from the Nicaraguan border in the northwest to the Panamanian border in the southeast, splitting the country in two. In the center of these ranges is a high plain with coastal lowlands on either side, making for perfect growing conditions for high quality SHB coffees.
Our Costa Rican coffee carries the SHB (Strictly Hard Bean) label, meaning it is grown above 3,900 feet. These beans have fine acidity, full body and vibrant flavor which give it a distinctive character, well balanced and sweetly smooth. Costa Rican coffee has the very best of everything — rich aroma, medium-high acidity which gives it a bright flavor, and medium-full body. It is one of the best balanced coffees of the three main characteristics found in coffee, aroma, body and acidity. This is why it is a highly demanded coffee within the specialty market, excellent alone or as a part of a blend.
This selection is simply wonderful in a little darker Vienna Roast, which is this month’s offering. Now, don’t be afraid of dark roast coffee. It is NOT bitter. Bitterness in coffee comes from low quality beans and improper roasting times and/or temperatures.
DOMINICAN — FULL CITY ROAST —
In 1720, Frenchman Ganriel de Clieu attempted to transport 2 coffee plants, cuttings from Louis XIV’s royal stock, to Martinique. Legend has it that while crossing the Atlantic, de Clieu’s ship was becalmed in the doldrums. As windless days dragged by, supplies dwindled. The coffee plants wilted. Desperate, de Clieu sacrificed his last ration of water for his plants. Soon after, a breeze stirred, sails billowed, and de Clieu landed on Martinique with one coffee plant still intact. From that sole survivor, the Typica variety of coffee arose.
Coffee seeds from that plant’s descendents arrived in Hispaniola in 1735. Later, young Typica plants were taking root in the rich soils of what is now the Dominican Republic. Coffee flourished. The offspring of those original plants still grace the forested slopes of the country, where some of the oldest coffee farms in the New World produce extraordinary coffee that reflects this remarkable heritage.
Several factors contribute to create unique growing conditions. Of unparalleled character, specialty coffee in this country is almost exclusively shade-grown, huddled under a canopy of native pine, guava and macadamia trees. These trees not only protect the coffee from the harshest rays of the sun, but provide natural habitat for birds and wildlife.
Handling of all specialty Dominican coffee is labor intense, from hand-picking, sorting, washing (via the wet-process), sun drying and turning. Extraordinary care is taken to monitor humidity content to the perfect 12% before bagging.
