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Costa Rica Gigante Estate

Country: Costa Rica

Estate: Gigante Estate

Grade: SHB

Processing Method: Black Honey

Elevation: 1700-1800m

Varieties: Caturra, Catuai

Located in the Central American isthmus, Costa Rica is influenced by the ocean currents and sea breezes of both the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans. The region features towering volcanoes reaching up to 2000 meters in altitude, allowing coffee cherries to slowly ripen in fertile volcanic soil and cool high-altitude conditions, producing beans with rich and complex flavors.

Costa Rica has two main seasons: the dry season from December to April, which is the coffee harvest period, and the wet (rainy) season from May to November. In recent years, numerous micro-processing facilities have been established. These require only 5% of the water used by traditional washed processing plants and do not need large fermentation tanks or drying patios, resulting in significantly lower investment costs. "Honey processed coffee," characterized by low acidity, enhanced complexity, and intense sweetness, has thus become a sought-after focus in the coffee industry.

        Gigante Estate is located in Brunca, southern Costa Rica, where the terrain connects to Panama, creating diverse microclimates. Near the estate, stone carvings dating back to 200 BC to 1500 AD, created by indigenous peoples and known as the Mystery Stone Spheres, were unearthed. This inspired the estate's name, Gigante (meaning "giant stones").

/Green Bean Analysis

|  Caturra, Catuai

Caturra and Catuai are relatively common varieties among American beans, especially in Central America.

Caturra

Caturra is a mutation of Bourbon, discovered in Brazil in 1937. It offers better yield and disease resistance than Bourbon, with shorter tree height that facilitates harvesting. It adapts well to environments without shade trees and can thrive even under direct sunlight, commonly referred to as Sun Coffee. Caturra thrives at elevations ranging from 700 meters at low altitudes to 1700 meters at high altitudes. While it adapts across various altitudes, the higher the elevation, the better the flavor—though yield decreases accordingly, a trade-off inherent to specialty beans.

Catuai

Catuai is also an Arabica hybrid variety, resulting from a cross between Mundo Novo (New World) and Caturra. It exhibits stronger resistance to natural disasters, particularly wind and rain. It inherits the short tree height advantage of Caturra, addressing the weakness of Mundo Novo. Another benefit is its firm fruit set, which resists being knocked off by strong winds, overcoming the fragility typical of Arabica cherries.

/Processing Method

The honey process, also called Honey Process or Miel Process, is often misunderstood as involving the use of actual honey or imparting a honey flavor. In reality, the honey process refers to drying the coffee beans with the mucilage (inner fruit layer) still intact after removing the outer skin. During the drying process, the sticky mucilage on the bean’s surface loses moisture and becomes thick and viscous, resembling honey—hence the name.