Costa Rica San Farael Crown Jewel - 12oz. Bag

Intro

This is an anaerobic washed Crown Jewel coffee from San Rafael de San Ramón, Costa Rica. It's produced by Carlos Morera on his farm Finca El Cerro. The flavor profile is complex and unique, with distinct notes of cinnamon and gingerbread accompanied by caramel, hibiscus, and pear.

When brewed, the coffee offers more floral and spice complexity at lower extraction percentages, while higher extraction may round off those nuances.

Roast

We roasted this batch of Coast Rica to a medium roast. Depending on the grind and brewing method, this Coast Rica San Rafael Crown Jewel can produce notes of cinnamon, gingerbread and hibiscus.

Brewing

As with most Top-Shelf coffees, we suggest using the pour-over method to maximized the aroma and flavor of this Crown Jewel coffee using a 1:16 coffee to water ratio with the water between 200F and 205F. Once grounds are placed in the filter, pre-soak grounds by covering with water for ~30sec to allow for blooming, then finish with either a steady pour or a couple of short pours to complete the brewing process.

Brew / Taste Analysis

By Colin Cahill, Royal Coffee

Brew Analysis

Zainab and I, as new baristas in the tasting room, had heard stories about this coffee whenever we asked about memorable beans that have come through The Crown. Zainab took the lead on our brew plan, selecting four brewers with variations on a design: the Saint Anthony Industries (SAI) C70 conical brewer with a single opening in the bottom, a Bee House flat-bottom cone-shape brewer with two drain holes, a Kalita Wave flatbed brewer with three holes, and a Fellow Stagg flatbed brewer with ten holes. Our brews with the Bee House, Kalita Wave, and Fellow Stagg brewers came out with similar extractions, so to highlight the greatest variation, we focused our analysis on the Bee House and the SAI C70 brewers.

The C70 conical brewer, with SAI perfect paper filters, yielded a clean, sweet brew with a surprisingly buttery mouthfeel tasting of dulce de leche. The cinnamon note was most subtle in this brew and most noticeable in the lingering aftertaste. This brew had the softest acidity of the bunch, yet still had hints of fruity brightness, coming through as notes of apple, cranberry, and raw, dark chocolate.

With only 8 more seconds of brew time, the Bee House brew had a much lower TDS reading and extraction rate, yielding a much more nuanced, yet well-balanced brew. This brew was cinnamon-forward with layers of fruit flavors, from rich, molasses-y raisin and date notes, to brighter green apple and tamarind notes. It had a much bolder chocolate note and offered hints of florality.

This bean is beautifully balanced and offers lots of room to play around with brewing dials to highlight different flavors. We are super excited to keep playing with this coffee on our pourover bar!

Taste Analysis

We are so excited to be bringing another harvest of this coffee back, and it does not fail to bring bold cinnamon and caramel notes. It is a beautifully clean bean that shows off its complex processing in its dynamic layers of flavor. Lighter roasts and brews feature smooth, buttery caramel flavors, hints of autumnal fruits—especially apple and cranberry—and a lingering cinnamon aftertaste. Pushed further, the sweetness and body enter buttercream frosting territory with layers of dried fruit, tamarind, grapefruit, plum, and ripe strawberry, with a whisp of rose. A heavier pourover will yield a brew filled with notes of Ponche Navideño, and I expect an espresso to sing of graham cracker. This coffee will be delicious at any time of year, but will make for an extra special bean for the winter holidays!

Producer Background

Crown Jewel Costa Rica San Rafael Carlos Fernández Morera Anaerobic is sourced from a El Diamante, which is owned and operated by Carlos Fernández Morera and his family. El Diamante is a 14-acre farm located in San Rafael de San Ramón within the province of Alajuela, Costa Rica.

Carlos and his family are members of Café de Altura de San Ramón Especial S.A. (Café de Altura), an association that was founded in 2004 and currently has more than 3500 members who receive technical support to increase the quality of their coffee and productivity on their farms. El Diamante is an example of cutting edge experimentation paying off for producers. The coffee is processed using an anaerobic fermentation process, which means the depulped coffee was fermented in an airtight tank with its own honey water. Temperature, brix, pH, time, and pressure are carefully controlled to enhance the coffee's flavors during the fermentation process. The results have been frequently recognized with top finishes in the Cup of Excellence auction in Costa Rica, including a fourth-place finish in 2017.