Costa Rica Brumas del Zurquí

Coffee was first planted in Costa Rica in the late 18th century, and by the 1820s, it had grown into a significant agricultural export, playing a pivotal economic role for the nation. This made Costa Rica the first Central American country to fully establish its coffee industry.
ICAFE – Instituto del Café de Costa Rica or Instituto Nacional del Café – was established as an NGO in 1933, designed to assist the agricultural and commercial development of the Costa Rican coffee market. Financed by a 1.5% export tax on all Costa Rican coffee, the organisation operates on a budget of $7 million. These funds are allocated to scientific research in Arabica genetics and biology, plant pathology, soil and water analysis, and national coffee industry oversight. Among its various functions, ICAFE exists to enshrine terms of the contract for Costa Rican coffees, making sure that farmers get 80% of the FOB price (”free on board” price refers to the point in the supply chain when a buyer or seller becomes liable for the goods being transported).
Less than 1% of the world’s coffee production comes from Costa Rica, but it has a strong reputation for producing smooth, good-quality coffees. Despite the country’s relatively small geographic size, it is distinguished from other coffee-producing nations by the diversity of bean types and, in turn, flavour profiles.
Protected by mountain ranges on the Pacific side, the Tarrazú region is a sanctuary for mystical and jungle birds. It also produces some of the finest coffee, grown on the slopes of the mountains and in small valleys. Coffee growing is the fundamental activity for the socioeconomic development of the region.
Almost 35% of the total coffee production in Costa Rica comes from the Tarrazú region, with its high altitudes of 1,200 to 1,900m producing some of the most complex coffee profiles in the country. Tarrazú has played a role as the cradle of some impressive advances in coffee processing, resulting in the production of exceptional coffees. Coffee is grown here on some 22,000 hectares, made up of small farms with an average size of 2.5 hectares.
The cultivation of coffee in Costa Rica dates back to the year 1779, and today the best quality coffee-producing regions are Tarrazú, Valle Oeste and Valle Central. In the last decade, coffee production has been threatened by the real estate boom, turning coffee farms into land for construction development. San José, the capital, is right in the heart of the Central Valley, where private homes stand next to coffee farms, and the value of these lands has now skyrocketed.