Discovering the Tarrazú Bean
Some coffees wake you up. Others awaken your curiosity. The Tarrazú bean does both.
Nestled high in the mountains of Costa Rica lies the Tarrazú region, a place where cool mountain air, rich volcanic soil, abundant rainfall, and warm sunshine come together to create one of the world’s most celebrated coffee-growing regions. For generations, coffee has been more than a crop here—it has been a way of life, carefully cultivated by families who understand that exceptional coffee begins long before it reaches your cup.
Often referred to as the “Land of the Saints,” Tarrazú sits at elevations ranging from approximately 3,900 to over 6,000 feet above sea level. These higher elevations allow coffee cherries to mature more slowly, giving each bean more time to develop the complex flavors that coffee lovers around the world have come to appreciate.
The result is a coffee that is both vibrant and approachable.
A well-crafted Tarrazú coffee often greets you with a bright, lively acidity balanced by a smooth medium body. Depending on the roast and harvest, you may discover notes of chocolate, caramel, citrus, honey, or even subtle hints of stone fruit. What makes Tarrazú truly memorable is its clean finish—a cup that feels balanced from the first sip to the last.
For many coffee enthusiasts, Tarrazú serves as a wonderful introduction to specialty coffee. It offers complexity without overwhelming the palate, making it equally enjoyable for someone discovering premium coffee for the first time or for the seasoned coffee drinker searching for exceptional quality.
Yet behind every cup is something even more remarkable.
Every bean represents months of careful cultivation, patient harvesting, and generations of craftsmanship. Before it ever reaches a roaster, before aromas begin filling kitchens and cafés, its story begins on the mountainsides of Costa Rica.
And sometimes, discovering a remarkable coffee bean becomes the beginning of an entirely different journey.
In our next section, we’ll share how the Tarrazú bean became part of the very first blend that would one day inspire the name Ms. Marie’s Coffee Blend.
There are coffees you enjoy, and then there are coffees that stay with you. For me, Tarrazú was one of those rare discoveries. From the very first cup, I knew I had found something extraordinary.
Before there was a business, there were conversations. Every week, my co-workers and I would gather around cups of coffee from different places, and no matter where we bought it, it all seemed to taste… ordinary. We would joke that it all tasted the same. Freshness was missing. Personality was missing. The experience was missing.
Then…
One day, a co-worker looked at me and said, “Why don’t you create something different?”
