Fall/Winter, 2009

Quartermaine Coffee Roasters is proud to introduce a very rare coffee. Of the many features worth celebrating—that it is from Costa Rica, that it hails from the high elevations of the world-famous Tarrazu growing region, that it has been separated and processed solely for Quartermaine Coffee Roasters—we highlight an unusual aspect of this coffee. This very small lot is comprised entirely of a type of arabica bean that has all but vanished from Costa Rica: the coffee variety called “typica” (pronounced TEE-pea-cah or TIH-pea-cah). What little typica remains in the country is usually blended with other varieties to improve the character of the lots and increase their value. We know of no other roaster featuring such an heirloom variety from Costa Rica, let alone from Tarrazu.

While Costa Rica is appropriately considered one of the premiere coffee countries of the world, the flavor profiles of its beans have changed in the last twenty years as the old trees that earned the country its reputation have been replaced with hardier new varieties that resist disease in a greater range of climates. Without implying that new varieties like caturra (kat-OR-ah) are gravely inferior (they definitely are not), some of the old complexity and balance of Costa Rican coffee has been lost. Nowhere is this more the case than Tarrazu, where the region’s highly regarded acidity often dominates a cup without the body or nuanced flavors to complement it.

The fine, citrus-like acidity of our Heirloom Typica does shine through, but as something analogous to its melody. Its smooth, viscous mouth-feel and flavors of butterscotch, both augmented by our dark, signature roast, anchor the coffee. The combination provides an exclusive glimpse of the early days of specialty coffee, when Tarrazus were cause for wonderment among coffee professionals.