Costa Rican Tarrazu Coffee

These Costa Rican Tarrazu Arabica beans make for a smooth coffee with a creamy body. Look out for subtle chocolate, caramel and nut flavours.

This coffee offers a lovely mouthfeel and decent acidity, which you need for a really enjoyable cup. Of course “acidity” in coffee does not refer to its pH level. Rather, it means that dry, bright, sometimes even sparkling sensation that a really high-quality coffee should always display. This is a particularly lively coffee, it really fizzes on the tongue. Like a fine Rwandan coffee.

We particularly recommend brewing this coffee as a filter or pour over. For best results, use 18g of coffee per 250ml of water. Overall this Tarrazu gives you a smooth, clean and bright mug of coffee.

Coffee Growing in Costa Rica

Costa Rica is the coolest country in Central America. Safe, peaceful. No army since 1949. More National Parks than any other country in the world. The whole culture of the country is encapsulated in its national slogan “pura vida”, which means “pure life”. And of course it is world-famous for its coffee.

Tarrazu, the region, lies due south of the capital city, San Jose. It is a large, pristine valley sheltered between the Pacific coast and the high peaks of the country’s central mountain range. Tarrazu is one of the world’s most famous coffee growing regions. This magnificent area, fondly known as “Zona de Los Santos” (“Zone of the Saints”), yields some of the most superb Costa Rican coffees. In Tarrazu they grow a mixture of Caturra and Catuai bean varieties.

Our Tarrazu coffee grows in plantations round the town of San Rafael in central Tarrazu. In these highlands the soil is rich in nutrients. Here the coffee plants grow at altitudes above 1,400m asl. As a result, the coffee beans develop slowly due to the height of the farms. This means there is time for the coffee trees to deliver nutrients to the beans and so develop their complex flavours.

The altitude means our Costa Rican Tarrazu coffee beans are Strictly Hard Bean (SHB). We could roast these harder, denser beans a lot darker without destroying the nuances in flavour. However we prefer to go light or medium roast on this Tarrazu. As a result, we find this best brings out the natural sweetness of the coffee.

Finally, if you like this coffee, why not try our Big Deal Blend. This pairs the Tarrazu with its near neighbour, Guatemalan Coban coffee, to make a delicious cup with a really huge mouthfeel.