Costa Rica 95 / CR95 Variety

Costa Rica 95 or CR95, a catimor coffee variety with high yield
Costa Rica 95 or CR95, a catimor coffee variety with high yield

Costa Rica 95 or CR95 is a variety known to produce a lot of coffee, and need a lot of inputs. It often requires chemical fertilizer to optimize production, as organic sources are not sufficient.

CR95 is a catimor coffee, a cross between Timor Hybrid (Hibrido de Timor) and Caturra. The selection of individual plants through successive generations, was made by the Instituto del Café de Costa Rica (ICAFE). While CR95 was bred for high productivity and disease resistance to CLR Coffee Leaf Rust, as well as the fungus Ojo de Gallo, it is reported to now be susceptible to these diseases.

Costa Rica 95 was controversial when I started buying coffee, because it was often planted in full sun, without any shade trees, and was seen as part of a cynical and environmentally destructive effort to produce huge volumes of arabica in Costa Rica in the 1990s and early 2000s.

The cup quality was medium to low, showing the harsh and unbalanced flavors found it catimor coffees, and from large farms that relied on chemical fertilizer to maximize yields. For the most part, we never bought any of these coffees as they were contrary to our aims and interests, and just didn’t taste good.

As Micro-Mills and small producers came online in Costa Rica, most would opt for varieties that had higher cup quality potential than catimor types like CR95

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