Gourmet Coffees

Having traditionally been relying on the primary industries, such as coffee, banana and beef exports, the nation’s economy has recently emerged as a high-tech power in the region after the opening of a large computer chip plant in the late 1990s. Read full article.

Costa Rica is working to improve it's quality of gourmet coffee to the world markets. This article except is from the Tico Times.

A plan jointly funded by the Spanish International Cooperation Agency and the Costa Rican Coffee Institute (ICAFE) aims to establish clear denominations of origin and geographic indicators - norms and labels that identify a product's origin and certify its quality - for Costa Rica coffee. By doing so, ICAFE hopes to further differentiate the country's coffee production from that of the rest of the world. Differentiation will result in better international coffee prices, according to the institute.

Representatives of the central Spain region of La Rioja's Regulator Council for the Qualified Denomination of Origin - the organization in charge of administrating and certifying denominations of origin for the region's wines - visited the country to meet with ICAFE and discuss preliminary plans for the project. Read full article.

Experts agree that quality is the only way for Costa Rican coffee to compete in the world market. Low quality, high quantity conventional coffee is dominated by Brazil and Vietnam – which just replaced Colombia as the world’s second biggest producer. The price drop and
global oversupply sparked by Vietnam’s onslaught of production through massive government subsidy programs will only get worse, as the country continues planting new trees that will bear even more fruit in the next five years.

Yet, while the purchasers and peddlers of the lowest quality canned coffee celebrate the never-ending price downslide, the world’s specialty coffee gurus say there must be a better way. But
forging new markets is never easy, and for many, creating specialty niches, such as fair trade, organic, sustainable and even "bird-friendly" coffees can be a complex matter.

The problems are numerous. Universal certification and enforcement standards are lacking, corners can be cut, and switching from a conventional to a niche farm can be expensive.

The bottom line is quality. Specialty coffee buyers are not interested if the quality is low.

The daily La Nación reported Aug. 13 that many of the estimated 170,000 undocumented immigrants in Costa Rica work on farms. The country'scoffee harvest alone requires about 200,000 workers. Fewer workerscould put farmers in a bind, especially during the peak harvest months of November to April.

The first coffee trees were planted in Costa Rica in the late 1770's. Most plantations are situated in the countryside surrounding the capital of San Jose, where the nutrient-rich volcanic soil is well-drained. In this area, the yield of beans per acre is the highest in the world.

Coffee beans grown above 3,900 feet are graded as SHB or Strictly Hard Bean. From 3,300 fee to 3,900 feet, the beans are graded GHT, or Good Hard Bean. These distintions are important because the cool air found at higher elevations causes the coffee cherries to ripen more slowely, giving the final brew a rich, hearty flaver that is the hallmark of fine Costa Rican Coffee.

Java junkies will have no trouble finding a fix in the coming year, according to a trade association report released Tuesday. The Association of Coffee Producing Countries, based in London, said 84.50 million bags of coffee are expected to be produced for export in the 12 months ending June 2000. That is 4.8 million bags over expected usage. Each bag is 132 pounds (60 kilograms).

In the event of such an excess, "the potential path for prices would cause many problems for producers," the report said. The association's report said the surplus can be reduced to 1 million bags if the countries participating in its 1999-2000 export program keep to their total agreed sales limit of 50 million bags.

Participating countries, including Brazil, Colombia, Indonesia, Uganda, Ivory Coast, Ethiopia, El Salvador, Costa Rica, Honduras and Kenya, agreed to the 50 million bag limit at a July meeting in Brazil. Read full artilce

Coffee beans were eaten long before they were brewed. Sonce ancient times African tribes had ground the beans, mixed them with animal fat and rolled them
into balls. This treat entergixed and noourished both warriors and travelers on long journeys. Coffee as a hot beverage didn't appear in history until A.D. 1000 when Arabs began to boil the beans.

One of the finest Costa Rican Estate Coffee coffees from the highly regarded Don Evelio Estates located in the Tarrazu region. The farm is located in the high mountains south of the capital of Costar Rica, San Jose.

Tarrazu
is a very mountainous terrain formed by volcanoes over the centuries.
The rich volcanic soil and high altitude growing conditions is the
recipe to this fine gourmet coffee. The farm sits just outside of the
city called San Marcos. The entire region is known as "los santos"
which means the saints because most to the local towns are all named
after patron saints.

We import Tarrazu coffee directly from this
estate. We visited the coffee estate and farming operations in June,
2005. The principal farmer, Jorge Uman, is one of the kindest people
you will ever meet and is passionate about his coffee operations.

You can buy Costa Rica Coffee from this estate directly from Volcanica Gourmet Coffee.

Thecoffee beans from Tarrazu are full bodied, robust and rich, and considered by many connoisseurs to be one of the world's best. Costa Rican coffee is very balanced between acidity and body. They are good stand-alone coffees reliable and delicious. These fine coffee beans are also a wonderful addition to weaker beans from other countries to improve their flavor and price.

There are is a large amount of evidence on the health benefits of coffee. It seems that every three weeks there is a new article on the news wires touting the health benefits of coffee. Here is a new one.

We all know coffee is addictive and drinking too much can raise your blood pressure and heart rate. But the latest research reveals it's the number one place Americans get their anti-oxidants. Brown Coffee beans are rich in anti-oxidants, but it appears the green variety contains much, much more.

Since most of the anti-oxidants are destroyed in the roasting process, Caffe Sonora wanted to be the first to create a healthy cup of joe. So they developed a way to keep anti oxidants in the coffee. Read full article.