Coffee “Costa Rica’s Gold”

“Starbucks in New York City serves Costa Rican Coffee.”

Tourist traveling to Costa Rica have asked me, “What is the best gift I can bring to my relatives and friends back home?”  And I tell them, “Costa Rican Coffee.”

The cup of coffee you drink in Costa Rica will be very fresh, recently harvested and roasted.   So the coffee is always good.

You can buy bagged coffee in all the supermarkets and at the gift shops in the international airports.  All the brands are good.  The most popular seems to be Britt which you can buy in it’s organic form.  Also the decaffeinated Britt coffee apparently is processed with water instead of with chemicals.  There are other brands of coffee in Costa Rica that are excellent.  In fact I have not found a bad brand yet.

The coffee beans  grown in Costa Rica came from Ethiopia and Arabia and were brought here by the Spaniards.  It was first grown in people’s yards as ornamental plants with its deep green leaves and pretty white blooms with a jasmine scent, and  big red berries.

Coffee was so easy to grow in Costa Rica, especially in the higher elevations of 4,000 feet in the rich volcanic soil, plentiful rainfall, and warm tropical sunshine.

In the year 1843 Costa Rica made it’s connection to the European markets for it’s coffee.  It so happened that an English sea captain named William Le Lacheur was on a return voyage to England from the west coast of the United States and made a stop on the central  Pacific coast at Puntarenas.  His ship was empty and he allowed Costa Rican coffee to be loaded and taken to England where it was an immediate success.

And now,  over a century later we walk into Starbucks in New York City  and drink a cup of Costa Rica coffee!  You’ve come a long way Baby!

Tourist visiting Costa Rica can take a coffee tour, learn all about “Costa Rica’s Gold”  and take a walk in a coffee plantation.

Doka Four Generations Coffee Tour is located in the central valley just 5 miles north of Alajuela.  Here you can learn about the life cycle of the coffee plant, and tour the plantation.  Coffee is harvested and processed November through January, but the tour is open all year . You also learn how coffee is processed, roasted, and  packaged, visit the gift shop and buy coffee to take home,  and have a delicious Costa Rican lunch.  plus taste the different flavors of the Four Generations coffee. Learn more at www.dokaestate.com

Britt Coffee Tour is  located near the hillside town of Heredia between Jan Jose and Alajuela.  The special treat here is theatrical presentation about the history of coffee in Costa Rica, a fun way to learn all about coffee. Also Britt grows coffee organically and here you will learn how this is done.   Find out all about Britt Coffee Tour at www.coffeetour.com

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