Costa Rica: From Farm to Cup

Spend just one day in Costa Rica and you'll quickly understand the Pura Vida way of life. From the beauty of the rainforest to the warmth of its people, Costa Rica has something for everyone, and an extra something for coffee and chocolate lovers. Lucky for us, we experienced the ultimate coffee adventure with our family in tow earlier this year outside the lush La Fortuna rainforest. 

Finca La Esperanza

First, major shoutout goes to my husband, Jack, for planning this absolute gem of a day. As soon as we arrived we were greeted by head of the family and guide extraordinaire Jose Luis. The Villegas family settled on what was a then untouched area of forest first 40 years ago. They quickly began the hard work of establishing a working coffee and cocoa plantation to build a future for their young family.

Our morning began with Jose offering us some rain boots before trekking through the grounds. Along the way we stopped to discover new plants, taste native fruits, pick flowers, and of course see coffee and cocoa plants hard at work. Each coffee plant yields only one main harvest per year with each tree producing only 1 to 2 pounds of roasted coffee. New plants take 3-5 years before they start to produce coffee cherries, and won't reach peak production until they are anywhere from 7 to 20 years old. Today the family grows mainly to feed themselves and is able to focus the majority of their efforts on tourism and education through their tours.

After our hike we returned to the rest of the Villegas family for a delicious Costa Rican lunch and a crash course in chocolate making and coffee roasting. Our lesson used traditional tools for grinding, roasting, and brewing coffee including the chorreador, which is a Costa Rican coffee brewer consisting of a wooden stand and reusable sock-like coffee filter to prepare a quick and simple pour over. While Jack and I savored our fresh roasted cup of coffee, our girls enjoyed chasing chickens, piglets, and several of the family's pet dogs. Our afternoon was filled with so much warmth and hospitality that we left feeling like we were part of the family. The entire experience really highlighted the unbelievable amount of work it takes to be a coffee producer and how lucky we are as roasters and lovers of coffee that modern day farmers are still working to uphold the coffee traditions in their countries.

Ready to taste what makes Costa Rican coffee so special? Grab a bag of our limited batch Costa Rica Tarrazu and bring the rainforest home!