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Costa Rica
Coffee was the driving force behind much of the infrastructure in Costa Rica in the early 20th Century. With an incredibly rich and biodiverse environment, Costa Rica has been at the forefront of speciality coffee for many years. With an abundance of water, washing the coffee was no problem for the Costa Ricans unlike some other coffee producing countries.
Washed coffee’s have historically fetched a higher price as there are less defects and generally was always perceived as a higher quality coffee. This has paved the way for the coffee industry to implement a significant amount of infrastructure far longer than many other producing countries.
With an increase in micro mills around 20 years ago, Costa Rican coffee is extremely traceable, right back to the exact farm or lot. That said, it is now possible to highlight flavours from a particular crop that may have otherwise been diluted. Honey processed coffee has also played a huge role in the Costa Rican coffee culture with many farmers adopting this method to produce more interesting coffee’s.
Costa Rican coffees have a soft sweetness, light in body and clean in cup. Mild in acidity and often possessing honey or molasses notes. Due to the traceability of many Costa Rican coffees, it is hard to group them all together as some of coffee’s are absurdly different. That said, Costa Rica is always a coffee I look out for on the menu as it pretty much always has some unique gem.
Photo; Anywhere
El Salvador
Home of the famous Pacamara varietal, El Salvador has been an important player in the coffee producing World for many years. After the civil war of the 1980’s El Salvador have been progressive in the speciality coffee industry, while many other countries replaced unique and descript coffee trees for high-yield crops, El Salvador did not go through this process.
In turn, although El Salvador does not produce anywhere near the quantity of coffee as other Central American countries it does produce undeniable quality and unusual characteristics.
An El Salvadorian coffee doesn’t have the punchy flavours and acidity of a Guatemalan however the subtle fruitiness and the gentle fragrance make coffee from this region of the world a perfect everyday coffee.
Photo; Coffee Hunter
Guatemala
Fiery volcanoes, huge lakes, huge lakes with fiery volcanoes. Guatemala has an iconic postcard worthy landscape that attracts folk from all over the world. It just so happens that the very things that make Guatemala so unique, the volcanoes also play a huge role in providing rich and nutrient land for coffee to grow.
Coffee has been growing in Guatemala since the 1850’s and was always one of main exports for the Guatemalan economy. Right up until the early twenty first century coffee was one of the main economic players in Guatemala. Unfortunately since the coffee crisis in 2001 and many farmers now choosing to farm other more profitable crops, coffee has been on the decline.
One of the great things about coffee production in Guatemala is the fact that many of the farms have their own wet stations so they are able to process their own coffee meaning that many of the coffees leaving the country are traceable right back to the farm.
Guatemalan coffee’s are highly regarded in the speciality coffee world because of the range of different flavours that can be found. The taste profiles can span all the way from light floral or citrus tones all the way through to deeper full bodied chocolatier notes.
Some of my favourite coffee’s have been Guatemalan. The naturals are particularly interesting for me because Guatemala is associated with washed coffees, but naturally processed coffees have recently taken off. With the infrastructure and education that already existed in the Guatemalan coffee industry it’s easy to see why they have recently produced some high quality naturals.
Photo; Maria Del Pintado
Honduras
As a relatively late comer to the coffee industry, Honduras has become the largest producer of coffee in Central America and now produces some of the highest quality coffee in the Americas. The location and terroir are perfect for growing coffee which is the country’s second biggest export.
Over 100,000 families are involved in the production of coffee and with the investment in infrastructure and education into processing techniques from the government the coffee industry is booming. However the infamous leaf rust hit Honduras fairly hard in 2012 with many crops badly damaged, while the large amounts of rainfall is also quite a big problem when drying the coffee.
Taste profiles of Honduran coffee are fairly similar to Guatemalan coffees in that they offer a wide range of flavours. From the Northern forested region of Agalta producing darker nutty and caramel flavours through to the Montecillos region which is famed for more citric flavours and juicy acidity.
Photo; Bodhi Leaf
Nicaragua
The coffee industry in Nicaragua has had a pretty turbulent history. Affected by war, the economy, import bans and hurricanes just to name a few the coffee industry has been through a lot. However over the last 15 years coffee production is starting to make a comeback and is firmly on it’s way to becoming as popular as it was in the 19th century.
With the turn around in the coffee industries quantity of coffee produced so did the quality of coffee, with more investment in infrastructure, the processing and the traceability are improving.
Much of the coffee produced in Nicaragua is shade grown (grown under the canopy of trees), this is fantastic for the environment but can also produce some unique tasting coffees. This is no more apparent than in the rich lands of the Nueva Segovia region of Nicaragua is home to a few small holder farmers who are pushing the boundaries of processing coffee and have in recent years put the region on the map by excelling on the cupping table.
As one of the larger Central American countries it would be fair to think that Nicaraguan coffee was even more diverse than its smaller neighbouring countries, however this is not the case. Although there are obviously exceptions, Nicaragua typically produces coffees with lighter, fruitier bodies and crisp acidity.
Photo; World Coffee Research
Panama
One of the most interesting and influential coffee growing countries in the speciality coffee industry. Historically, Panama had a very poor reputation for producing coffee and in comparison to its neighbours on either side, Costa Rica and Colombia produced minuscule amounts.
In recent years however, Panama has produced some of the most unique and expensive coffee in the world. Panama, although a relatively small country is extremely bio-diverse and has a number of micro-climates at altitude which contribute to a perfect coffee growing environment. The stable economy and the infrastructure in Panama enabled a few coffee farms in the region of Boquette to pioneer the Geisha coffee plant which famously sold for extortionate amounts of money, putting Panamanian coffee on the map.
Having been lucky enough to visit Panama, I have sipped a Panama Geisha overlooking the hills of Boquette. Although I wasn’t blown away by the flavours, I was fully aware that unfortunately the best coffee normally gets exported out. I have however tasted Panama Geisha coffee in Australia and had my socks knocked off. The complexity and the delicate flavours that evolved as the coffee cooled were truly unique. Panama as an origin, aside from Geisha does typically produce some other world class coffee’s with similar taste profiles of complex fruit and floral notes.
Photo; This was one of my snaps when visiting Finca Ruiz in Boquette.
