Altitude:
1,400–2,000m (4,600–6,600ft)
Harvest:
September–December (main crop) April–May (mitaca crop)
Varieties:
14% Typica, 54% Caturra, 32% Castillo
RISARALDA
This is another well-established coffee-producing region and here a large number of farmers belong to cooperatives. As a result, there has been some interest from ethical labelling organizations. Coffee plays an important social and economic role in the area, providing jobs and employment to many. While many people moved to the region in the 1920s, often to grow coffee, the recession at the turn of the millennium saw some wide-scale emigration back to other regions and other countries. The capital city is also a transport hub for the regions of Caldas and Quindio, and the interdepartmental road network is known as the Autopista del Café (Coffee Highway).
Altitude:
1,300–1,650m (4,300–5,400ft)
Harvest:
September–December (main crop) April–May (mitaca crop)
Varieties:
6% Typica, 59% Caturra, 35% Castillo
NARIÑO
Some of the highest coffees in Colombia are grown in Nariño, and they can also be some of the most stunning and complex. It is challenging to grow coffee at these high altitudes in many areas, as the plants suffer from ‘die back’. However, Nariño is close enough to the equator that the climate is sufficiently suitable for coffee plants. The vast majority of Nariño’s forty thousand producers are smallholders with less than 2 hectares (4.4 acres) each. Many have formed groups and institutions to provide each other with support and to interact with the FNC. In fact, the average farm size is less than 1 hectare (2.2 acres), and only 37 producers in the region own more than 5 hectares (11 acres) of land.
Altitude:
1,500–2,300m (4,900–7,500ft)
Harvest:
April–June
Varieties:
54% Typica, 29% Caturra, 17% Castillo
CALDAS
Along with Quindio and Riseralda, the state of Caldas is part of the Colombian Coffee-Growing Axis, or Coffee Triangle. Between them they grow a large portion of the nation’s coffee. Historically this was considered some of the best coffee in Colombia, but now other regions are more competitive on that front.
The region is also home to Cenicafé, the National Coffee Research Centre run by the FNC. It is considered to be one of the world’s leading institutions for research into all aspects of coffee production, and it is here that a number of varieties unique to Colombia (such as the disease-resistant Colombia and Castillo varieties) have been created.
Altitude:
1,300–1,800m (4,300–5,900ft)
Harvest:
September–December (main crop) April–May (mitaca crop)
Varieties:
8% Typica, 57% Caturra, 35% Castillo
ANTIOQUIA
This department is the birthplace of both coffee in Colombia and the FNC. This is a key growing region with around 128,000 hectares (316,000 acres) of coffee, the most of any region. The coffee is produced by a mixture of large estates and cooperatives of small producers.
Altitude:
1,300–2,200m (4,300–7,200ft)
Harvest:
September–December (main crop) April–May (mitaca crop)
Varieties:
6% Typica, 59% Caturra, 35% Castillo
CUNDINAMARCA
This department surrounds the capital city of Bogotá, one of the highest capital cities in the world at 2,625m (8,612ft) above sea level, higher than coffee would grow. This was the second region in Colombia to produce coffee for export, with its production peaking just before World War II. At that time it produced about ten per cent of the nation’s coffee, but the percentage has since declined. In the past this region had some very large estates, some with over one million coffee trees.
Altitude:
1,400–1,800m (4,600–5,900ft)
Harvest:
March–June (main crop) October–December (mitaca crop)
Varieties:
35% Typica, 34% Caturra, 31% Castillo
SANTANDER
This was one of the first regions in Colombia to produce coffee for export. The region has a little less altitude than some of the others, and this can often be detected in the coffees as they veer more towards round and sweet, rather than juicy and complex. A great deal of coffee from this region is certified by the Rainforest Alliance, and the biodiversity of the region is considered very important.
Altitude:
1,200–1,700m (3,900–5,600ft)
Harvest:
September–December
Varieties:
15% Typica, 32% Caturra, 53% Castillo
NORTH SANTANDER
In the north of the country, bordering Venezuela, this region was producing coffee very early on, and may have been the first area in Colombia to grow coffee.
Altitude:
1,300–1,800m (4,300–5,900ft)
Harvest:
September–December
Varieties:
33% Typica, 34% Caturra, 33% Castillo
SIERRA NEVADA
This is another region at lower altitudes, and again the coffees here tend to be heavier and rounder, rather than more elegant and lively. Coffee is grown on the Andean mountains in this area and the incredibly steep hillsides (ranging from fifty to eighty degrees) offer a particular challenge to the farmers. The name, a common one in many Spanish-speaking countries, translates as ‘snow-topped mountains’.
Altitude:
900–1,600m (3,000–5,200ft)
Harvest:
September–December
Varieties:
6% Typica, 58% Caturra, 36% Castillo
COSTA RICA
Coffee has been grown in Costa Rica since the early 19th century. When the country’s independence from Spain was declared in 1821, the municipal government gave away free coffee seeds to encourage production and records show there were around seventeen thousand trees in Costa Rica at that point.
In 1825 the government continued its promotion of coffee by exempting it from certain taxes, and in 1831 the government decreed that if anyone grew coffee on fallow land for five years, they could claim ownership of it.
While a small amount of coffee had been exported to Panama in 1820, the first real exports began in 1832. Although this coffee was ultimately bound for England, it first passed through Chile where it was rebagged and renamed as ‘Café Chileno de Valparaíso’.
Direct export to England followed in 1843, not long after the English became increasingly invested in Costa Rica. This ultimately led to the establishment of the Anglo-Costa Rican Bank in 1863, which provided finance to allow the industry to grow.
For nearly fifty years, between 1846 and 1890, coffee was the sole export of the country. Coffee drove infrastructure, such as the creation of the first railroads linking the country to the Atlantic, as well as funding the San Juan de Dios Hospital, the first post office and the first government printing office. It would have an impact on culture too, as the National Theater is a product of the early coffee economy, along with the first libraries and the Santo Tomás University.
Costa Rica’s coffee infrastructure had long given it an advantage when it came to fetching a better price on the international market. The wet process had been introduced in 1830, and by 1905 there were two hundred wet mills in the country. Washed coffees achieved higher prices, and at this time processing coffee in this way added to its perceived quality.
The coffee industry continued to grow until it began to reach its geographical limits. The population was still spreading from San José to the rest of the country, and farmers were looking for new land upon which to grow crops. However, not all of the land in the country was suitable for growing coffee, something that still checks the growth of the industry to date.
It is undeniable that Costa Rican coffee held a good reputation and a
chieved good prices for its coffees for a very long time, even though the coffees it was producing were typically clean and pleasant rather than interesting or unusual. There was a drive in the later part of the 20th century to move away from heirloom varieties, towards high-yielding varieties. While higher yields make economic sense, many in the speciality coffee industry felt that the cup quality decreased and became even less interesting. However, there have been recent changes that have brought a great deal of interest back to the higher-quality coffees produced in the country.
THE GOVERNMENT’S ROLE
Right from the start, coffee production was strongly encouraged in Costa Rica, with land being given away to those who wished to grow the crop on it. In 1933 the government, under pressure from the coffee-growing community, created the rather bombastically titled Institute for the Defence of Coffee. Initially the institute was to play a role in trying to prevent small coffee growers from being exploited by those who bought their coffee cherry cheaply, processed it and sold it for a much greater profit. They did this by setting a limit on the profits that could be made by larger processors.
In 1948 the government body for coffee became the Oficina del Café, though some of the responsibilities for coffee went to the Department of Agriculture. This organization became the Instuto del Café de Costa Rica (ICAFE), which still exists today. ICAFE has a wide-ranging involvement in the coffee industry, running experimental research farms and promoting the quality of Costa Rican coffee worldwide. It is funded by a 1.5 per cent tax on all exports of coffee from Costa Rica.
The Doka Coffee plantation in San Isidro de Alajuela is typical of Costa Rica’s organized coffee production. Wet mills widely adopted in the 19th century are one of its export trade’s many advantages.
THE MICRO MILL REVOLUTION
Costa Rican coffee had a long-standing reputation for good quality, and as such fetched a premium price in the commodity marketplace. What it lacked, as the speciality coffee market developed, was much in the way of traceable coffee. Typically coffees exported from Costa Rica around the turn of the millennium carried marks that were essentially brands created by the large mills or beneficios. These brands obscured exactly where the coffee had been grown and the unique terroir or qualities that it may possess. There was little in the processing chain to keep the individual lots distinct.
In the mid to late 2000s, however, there was a dramatic increase in micro mills. Farmers were investing in small-scale post-harvest equipment of their own and doing more of the processing themselves. This meant they were able to increase control over their coffee and the diversity of styles and coffees from all regions of Costa Rica dramatically increased. In the past, a unique and unusual coffee would have been blended in with coffees of neighbouring farms, but not any longer.
This makes Costa Rican coffees exciting to explore, as it is now easier than ever to taste several different coffees from a particular area side by side, and begin to see the effect geography can have on taste.
Costa Rica’s rapidly growing tourist trade has encouraged tours of coffee farms thoughout the country, some of which are adopting organic farming methods.
COFFEE AND TOURISM
Costa Rica is the most developed, and is considered the safest, of the Central American countries. This makes it an incredibly popular tourist destination, especially with North Americans. Tourism has come not only to displace coffee as the primary source of income from abroad, but has also collided and combined with it. Ecotourism is particularly popular in Costa Rica, and it is possible to visit and take tours of many coffee farms in the country. Typically those offering tours are the larger farms, with less focus on absolute quality, but it is nonetheless interesting to have the opportunity to see how coffee farming works up close.
TRACEABILITY
Currently land ownership is extremely common in Costa Rica, with ninety per cent of coffee producers there owning small- to medium-sized farms. As such it is possible to find coffees traceable to an individual farm or a particular cooperative.
Queues of pickers at Carrizal de Alajuela wait to measure their freshly harvested crop. The plantation specializes in growing and selling high-quality coffee for export.
Baskets of freshly picked cherries at the Doka Coffee plantation. Workers receive greater profits according to the percentage and size of ripe fruit picked.
TASTE PROFILE
Costa Rican coffees are typically very clean and sweet, though often very light bodied. However, recently micro mills are producing a wider range of flavours and styles.
GROWING REGIONS
Population: 4,586,000
Number of 60kg (132lb) bags in 2016: 1,486,000
Costa Rica has been successful in the past in marketing its coffees under the names of the regions that produce them. However, there is a wide diversity of flavours within each region, so it is well worth exploring each of the different regions to see what they can produce.
CENTRAL VALLEY
With the capital city of San José located here, this is the most heavily populated region in Costa Rica, and the one that has been growing coffee for the longest. It is typically divided into the sub-regions of San José, Heredia and Alajuela. There are three key volcanoes in the area – Irazu, Barva and Poas – which affect the topography and the soil.
Altitude:
900–1,600m (3,000–5,200ft)
Harvest:
November–March
WEST VALLEY
The first farmers settled in the West Valley region during the 19th century and brought coffee with them. The region is divided into six sub-regions, centred around the cities of San Ramón, Palmares, Naranjo, Grecia, Sarchi and Atenas. The city of Sarchi lends its name to a specific coffee variety called Villa Sarchi. The highest altitudes in the region are found around Naranjo, and some stunning coffees can be found throughout this area.
Altitude:
700–1,600m (2,300–5,200ft)
Harvest:
October–February
TARRAZÚ
The region of Tarrazú has a long-standing reputation for quality, and for years the coffee from here could almost have been considered a high-quality grade. That coffee was probably just a mill grade collected from different farms and blended together to create a large lot. However, the brand of Tarrazú gained sufficient strength over the years that coffee from outside the region was being marketed as Tarrazú to increase its value. The highest coffee farms in the country are in this region and, like many of the other regions, it benefits from a distinct dry season during harvest.
Altitude:
1,200–1,900m (3,900–6,200ft)
Harvest:
November–March
TRES RIOS
A small region just to the east of San José, Tres Rios also benefits from the effects of the Irazu volcano. This area was considered relatively remote until recently, but now the greatest challenge to the coffee-growing industry is no longer gaining access to power or infrastructure, but the threat from urban development. More land is required for housing, and Tres Rios is producing less and less coffee each year, as land is sold for property development.
Altitude:
1,200–1,650m (3,900–5,400ft)
Harvest:
November–March
OROSI
Another small region but further east from San José, Orosi has over a century of coffee production in its history. The region is essentially a long valley, compromising the three sub-regions of Orosi, Cachí and Paraíso.
Altitude:
1,000–1,400m (3,300–4,600ft)
Harvest:
August–February
BRUNCA
The region of Brunca is split into two cantons: Coto Brus, which borders Panama, and Pérez Zeledón. Of the two, Coto Brus depends more on coffee as an integral part of its economy. Italian settlers arrived here after World War II and, with Costa Ricans, started coffee farms in the area.
Pérez Zeledón’s coffee was first planted
and produced by settlers from the Central Valley region of the country, towards the end of the 19th century. A lot of the coffee grown in this region is either Caturra or Catuai.
Altitude:
600–1,700m (2,000–5,600ft)
Harvest:
August–February
TURRIALBA
The harvest in this region is earlier than most, due to the weather and particularly the rainfall in the area. With less defined wet and dry seasons, it isn’t unusual to see multiple flowerings on coffee trees here. The weather may present something of a challenge for coffee production, as coffees of very high quality are relatively scarce.
Altitude:
500–1,400m (1,600–4,600ft)
Harvest:
July–March
GUANACASTE
This western region is large but there are only relatively small areas of it under coffee. The area is more dependent on beef ranching and rice than on coffee. There is still a sizeable production, though much of it is grown at lower altitudes making stunning coffees less common here.
The World Atlas of Coffee: From beans to brewing - coffees explored, explained and enjoyed Page 21