Costa Rica – Volcan Azul H3 Espresso
Costa Rica – Volcan Azul H3 Espresso
If you have been brave enough to try the filter roast of the washed caturra and the yellow honey, which we suggested could be brewed in almost any way, here is something interesting again! This is the H3 varietal. The H3 is new to us at James Gourmet if that makes you feel any better? In short, this is a high yielding, compact F1 hybrid. There is a lot more information here. What is interesting to me is when some of the farms that we have worked with, who try and migrate from their traditional varieties to compact higher-yielding varieties, there can be issues. Cup quality can be reduced, at the expense of having a quicker, higher-yielding harvest. Thankfully this is not the case.
We have saved the H3 for espresso. We have all of the body of the washed caturra yellow honey, yet with a simpler cup profile. Some of this is down to roast admittedly.
Farm Stats
(Top Trumps if you prefer)
Farmer: Alejo Castro
Farm Volcan Azul
Area: Alajuela, Costa Rica.
Established: 1850, 5th generation farm.
Hectares: 55
Altitude: 1540-1720 Meters above sea level
Varietal: H3. This is a Caturra x Ethiopian Land Race F1 varietal.
Roast: Dark filter/ light-ish espreso.
Recipe: 16-18g of coffee into 35/40g for Milk-based drinks. 45-50g of liquid for espresso. We found this was working really well from 28 seconds up, on a home machine.
Cup potential: Delicate acidity. Juicy and citric espresso with hand fulls of chocolate and cocoa. In milk-based drinks, this is salted caramel and dark chocolate. Simple and delicious.
