COMMON GROUNDS

The Costa Rican bean is prized among coffee connoisseurs, but, as Tom Vanderbilt discovers, it's just one of a cornucopia of unique foods produced in the country.

- Tom Vanderbilt

WHEN IT COMES to coffee, Costa Rica has a robust profile: the country ranks 124th in the world in terms of population, but is the 22nd-largest coffee exporter. Where Costa Rica excels is not in volume, however, but quality. With its hilly terrain, tropical precipitation, and acidic, volcanic soil, the country is home to a wide array of small producers-most cultivate 12 acres or less - that farm superior arabica beans. Despite this, many visitors may get no closer to Costa Rican coffee than the Chocolatería Britt café at the San José airport.

A more full-bodied experience can be had at Hacienda AltaGracia, Auberge Resorts Collection, a hotel in the foothills of the Talamanca mountain range with 50 casitas dotted among 180 densely forested acres. As part of what resort manager Koen Masschelein calls "AltaGracia 2.0," the property has focused on connecting with local communities - particularly via food.

The day of my arrival-via the hotel's own Cessna turboprop, which ferries guests from San José to its private runway-Masschelein and I sat in the Mercado, a small café and gift shop that serves as a meeting place for the sprawling property. We had just had an extensive coffee tasting, courtesy of Adrey "Tacho" Perez Salazar, who was busily preparing for the Costa Rican preliminaries of the World Barista Championship. Tacho poured me and my friend Jon-a Tico who now lives in New Jersey-cups of red-honeyprocessed Gesha coffee. However, each cup was prepared in a different way, including in a vandola, a ceramic jug with a conical top. The coffee comes from Corazón de Jesus, one of a number of local micro mills.