Quality Coffee Production at the Doka Estate
Today we visited a coffee plantation at the Doka Estate and went on a coffee tour to get some insight on their coffee production. Something important that I took away today is that it’s all about “quality over quantity”. Producing high quality coffee is especially important in Costa Rica because it has a heavy impact on their economy. They don’t produce a ton of coffee, but because it has higher quality, they can sell it for a higher price. If the coffee was mediocre, they wouldn’t make a lot of money.
Since Costa Rica has great quality control in their coffee plantations they produce 85% high quality coffee. Then 10% is medium quality which is what is sold in Costa Rica for locals since it’s cheap.
Coffee Production
At Doka, they only grow Arabica coffee. In the coffee plantations, the coffee plants can live for more than 100 years, but over time the quality of the coffee deteriorates. So, every 25 years, the coffee plants are replaced. The first harvest of the coffee beans happens after 3 years and the pickers (they come from Nicaragua) harvest the ones that are red and ripe.
From there the coffee beans are put in water and selected based off of density. The good coffee beans are more dense, floating to the bottom and the bad ones float on top. The less dense coffee beans are usually due to insects biting them. That’s why fruit trees are usually around coffee plants so insects feed on those instead.
Then the coffee beans are naturally fermented (sugar is removed/used up), dried by machines, and then they are left inside the factory for 3 months. They could also be dried outside which is the old fashion way, but the quality is still the same. If they were to roast the beans right away, they would taste bitter. Nevertheless, when the drying process is done, they remove the perishment on the coffee, and the bean is green (the “golden bean”) and is ready to be shipped or roasted. This preparation process including the time it takes for the first harvest is roughly 3 years and 4 months.
What I found Interesting
I found the fermentation and the different roasting times for the coffee beans to be really interesting. This is important because different methods can lead to different tasting coffee.
For instance, the coffee beans could undergo the “Honey Process”. This is when fermentation is skipped and the coffee beans dry outside with the sugar. With these beans, the coffee will taste like a bitter sweet, dark chocolate. The other one is the “Natural Process” where the whole coffee fruit is dried, none of the red skin is removed, and it’s dried for 10 days. Then afterwards a machine with more friction is needed to remove the skin to get to the “golden bean” condition. This makes the coffee taste like honey.
Also depending on whether the coffee bean is a whole round bean (“peaberry”) or flatter, they feel different.
Soooo…is Costa Rica Coffee Worth the Hype?
I would say that the coffee I tried today was decent. I loved the sample of the chocolate coffee that we had when we arrived (man I wish they had that flavor in the gift shop). But, I’m not super crazy about coffee (only when I’m dying from engineering work).
The other coffee flavors or types that I tried were alright. They weren’t super impressive to me because I mostly like mocha or caramel flavored coffee, but I could tell that the quality was good. Costa Rica coffee is definitely something to appreciate because so much effort goes into producing it and making sure it’s high quality. Even visiting Doka alone is something to appreciate because not many people get that experience.
I can’t wait to visit Cafe Britt tomorrow and learn more about coffee! Pura Vida!