If you love coffee, then you must try Costa Rican coffee. Costa Rica is known for producing high quality coffee, in fact it’s one the best in the world!
Read all about Costa Rican coffee in this post and we highly recommend you to go on a Costa Rica coffee tour to learn more. It’s one of the best cultural activities to do in Costa Rica.
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Costa Rica Coffee History
When you hear about Costa Rican coffee, you will probably think about good quality and strong flavor. Both thoughts are correct but this reputation is not a coincidence. Costa Ricans take their coffee very seriously and are proud of what we call our golden beans.
In 1720, the first coffee beans where brought to Martinica and then to Costa Rica at the end of the XVIII century. Due to the ideal climate in the mountains, coffee became one of their largest exports and an important part of the Costa Rican economy.
Costa Rica was the first country in the area to develop the coffee industry. Since then, the government has been motivating farmers to grow coffee. Although Costa Rica produces around 1% of the world’s coffee production, the coffee quality is exceptionally high. And nowadays, big companies like Starbucks have their own coffee plantation in Costa Rica since it has such great conditions!
Costa Rica’s coffee has won plenty of international contest and certifications. In Japan, the winner of the world coffee competition used Costa Rican coffee to make his winning cup, saying that he only uses that coffee because it is the best in the world.
Costa Rican Coffee Facts
Coffee was such an important product for Costa Rica that laws were passed pertaining to it’s cultivation. Back in 1989, it was prohibited by law to cultivate the Robusta coffee due the poor quality. After this, the coffee farmers decided to stop producing another kind of coffee called Catimores.
All these efforts were made in order to produce only Arabica Coffee, which is the highest quality. More than 80% of Costa Rica’s coffee plantations are located between 800 meters and 1600 meters altitude, planted with fertile volcanic grounds and temperatures from 17 to 28 Celsius degrees.
This is the perfect environment to produce an excellent product. Coffee plants do not like extremely hot weather and thrive in a higher altitude.
The best places to grow and produce coffee in Costa Rica is the Central Valley, namely the mountainous areas of San Jose, Cartago, Alajuela, Heredia, Monteverde and Turrialba.
Costa Rica Coffee Tours
If you want to try special Costa Rican coffee, then you must take a coffee tour at a beneficio, or a coffee plantation. If you go to the plantation, you will get to see the entire procedure and be able to taste and purchase their coffee.
It’s very interesting to see the fusion between old and new technology because they use both ways to process coffee – by hand and by machine. Costa Rica still picks all their coffee by hand but have adapted new technologies to make the entire process faster.
On a Costa Rica coffee tour, you will see what the coffee plant looks like, the coffee cherries, how they pick and peel them to get the bean, how they separate the quality of beans and how that cherry turns into what we know as coffee we buy in the supermarket.
And of course – you get to try delicious coffee and sample different coffee products!
The Best Costa Rica Coffee Tour
The best Costa Rica coffee tours are in San Jose, Heredia, Alajuela, Cartago and Monteverde since those are the best places to grow coffee in Costa Rica. They grow what they call first grade coffee.
In fact, the coffee is so good that Starbucks even bought and opened up their own plantation! The Starbucks plantation, Alsacia is now open to the public for visitors and tours.
Other tours we love are the Doka Estate Coffee Tour as they produce some of the country’s highest quality coffee. Don Juan in Monteverde is also great one. Those two are a couple of the best Costa Rica coffee tours.
Another coffee tour we really like is the La Fortuna coffee tour (get 10-15% off the tour here). Although La Fortuna doesn’t grow first quality coffee, you can still learn about it on a local family farm. Turrialba had another great coffee tour (Golden Beans) as they grow 100% organic coffee and use renewable energy to power their entire plantation!
Tip: The best time to take a Costa Rica coffee tour is October – Mach as this is their production and harvest season. You will be able to see the whole process in action!
In Guanacaste, Tio Leo, Tamarindo Coffee Roasters and Sun Burst offers small tours for roasting coffee. Guanacaste is not a good place to grow coffee at all since it’s too hot and is at sea level but they are able to roast coffee. Buena Vista Lodge also has their own small coffee station.
One reason why we we recommend taking a Costa Rica coffee tour on a big plantation is that these businesses export majority of their coffee because it’s such good quality. You can only purchase their coffee on their plantation, you can’t find them at the Costa Rican supermarkets!
If you plan to bring Costa Rican coffee back as a souvenir, here are our favorite brands.
Costa Rica Coffee Brands and Souvenirs
Coffee is one of the best souvenirs in Costa Rica since it’s widely available and not too expensive. 1820 and Britt are the two most brands of Costa Rican coffee to buy as souvenirs.
1820 is much cheaper at around $4 for 500 grams and Brit is more expensive at around $9-11 for a 380 gram bag. Britt is good but is more commercial which is why they’re more expensive.
Other Costa Rican coffee brands you can find in the supermarket are Cafe Rey and Dorado. Those you will find in every grocery store. Our personal favorite coffees are Peaberry by Doka, French Roast by Doka, Terrazu by Cafe Rey, San Luis and 1820.
This is why if you’re looking for a special type of coffee as gifts, we recommend taking a Costa Rica coffee tour so you can purchase the special coffee.
Costa Rican Chorreadors
Another interesting thing about coffee is how the locals make it. Traditionally, Costa Ricans use a chorreador to make coffee which is their coffee maker. A chorreador is essentially a wooden stand and they use a cloth “sock” as a filter.
Although most people nowadays use a normal coffee maker due to time, this is how they used to make it back in the day. Due to the cloth filter, the chorreador gives a much richer flavor. The “sock” they use as a filter retains more flavor and doesn’t taste plasticy.
Here is a video of the traditional way to make coffee. If you love coffee, you must try it made this way! It’s one of the essential experiences to have in Costa Rica.
For souvenirs, a chorreador makes a great gift. You can buy a painted chorreador for about $20 and they are in all the souvenir stores. If you don’t have time to go shopping, the Brit souvenir store in the airports sell them too.
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Lindy says
Hi there,
Thanx for your great article!
I am now in Monteverde, not gonna do a coffee tour but want bring some home for my coffee loving dad. He drinks really strong espresso’s.
What is the best bean/brand I can buy here?
Thanx,
Lindy
Sammi says
We love the San Luis coffee and Cafe de Monteverde! There was a cafe in downtown Santa Elena that sold Cafe de Monteverde, not sure if it’s still there though. I think you can get San Luis in the souvenir stores.
Ray says
Hi,
What coffee would you recommend for a person that loves moccacinos? I like the nutty, chocolatey flavour. I don’t mind medium to dark roast. Doesn’t need to be expensive, just taste good.
Sammi says
Hi Ray, the Doka Dark roast is my favorite and I prefer a dark chocolate flavor. Most of what you find in the supermarket is medium to dark roast, the Tarrazu one is pretty good too.
Ray says
Thanks!
Another question:
Those coffee sock filters…do you just wash and reuse them? How long do they last? Are they noticably better than a coffee press?
Thanks!
Sammi says
You wash and reuse it, and we usually change ours after a couple months of use.
Ray Penner says
Is there a place you can buy this socks? I notice that in gift stores they sell the stand and a sock, but where do you get replacement socks?
Sammi says
They sell socks at the supermarkets here in the same section as the coffee. But if you buy the chorreador that is really small, those ones are hard to find since they usually just sell the normal size socks.
Steph says
What would be your recommendation for a coffee tour that is closer to Guanacaste? I will be traveling to Coco Beach in 3 weeks and would love a coffee tour
Sammi says
If you want the full on coffee tour, like going to a plantation, learning about the plants, seeing how they pick the coffee, seeing the coffee mill and the entire process, you will need to go to Monteverde or San Jose. If you are ok with seeing and learning about the roasting process, there is a small coffee tour at the Do-It center or at Tio Leo near the Liberia airport.
Caroline Lawrence says
We are from Canada and love our coffee, but I need my coffee with cream!! I have heard when we travelt o Costa Rica there will be no cream, just milk. 😐 is this true? . . .or is this more in rural areas and when we are in 4 star hotels there will be cream?
Sammi says
At restaurants, they will have milk, that is the most common. Even at 4 star hotels, I am not sure if they will carry cream but you will need to ask because by default they’ll have milk. You can buy coffee cream at the nicer supermarkets but it is more expensive.
Cindy says
Hi Guys!
Thanks for your article on coffee. I am not really a coffee drinker unless I turn it into a chilled coffee on the rocks with a couple of shots of almond syrup, some chocolate syrup added, topped with whipped cream and cinnamon sprinkled on top of that! Obviously, it’s too rich to drink very often but it makes an excellent dessert drink. Pura Vida!
Cindy
Sammi says
Coffee isn’t for everyone and it’s definitely an acquired taste! Haha that’s more like a dessert than coffee 😉
Reisfreaks says
At the end of our Costa Rican honeymoon we bought a couple of bags with Britt Expresso beans and took them home. We love this coffee!! There is only 1 bag left :S
2 strong cup a coffees in the video 😀
Sammi says
Glad you like the coffee! You can order more on the Britt website but I highly recommend trying different brands – Britt is good but it’s the more commercial and expensive one. We love the Doka brand and the Cafe Rey Tarrazu. 1820 is excellent too and a lot cheaper!
Gina L. says
Hi Yeison (& Samantha)!
Yeison – you may or may not remember me, but we met in 2010 during a VIDA trip I was on (we are still friends on facebook and my last name has changed since then). I love the blog you two have built! My husband and I are in CR for the week (until Saturday) and I have found myself on your blog 2-3 times looking at info to help us on our trip; it’s much different traveling the country in a rental car for vacation vs through VIDA for a trip. 🙂
It looks like you are having a blast; I hope all is well! We will be near La Fortuna until Wednesday and then ~45 minutes to an hour east of there until Saturday. We are hoping to make a trip to Poas as well later this week. If you have any recommendations or happen to be in the area and want to meet for some afternoon coffee or a drink, let me know (probably via email or facebook)!
Pura vida!
yeison says
Hello Gina I hope you and your husband are doing great! I am sorry for the late reply but at this moment we are in the south of Costa Rica and the internet access is limited, we will be back in a few days, I am afraid that we wont be able to see you guys this time but please let me know if you guys need some advice or help on anything. Pura vida 🙂
Lady says
We are in Costa Rica now visiting ;). It’s beautiful here. Thanks for your post! I will buy coffee to bring home.
Sammi says
Yay! Glad you guys love it. Yes, coffee is the best to bring back!
Jeffrey Fong says
We bought some coffee at the airport waiting area in Puerto Jimenez. It was an organic local brand from nearby. Are there other places that sell such coffee?
Sammi says
Hi Jeffrey! You can find organic coffee in nearly at every grocery store. You probably bought Brit since thats the one at the airport. You can find Brit at every grocery store
Patti says
I’m not a coffee drinker, but I think it would be interesting to visit a coffee plantation and see the process of going from plant to brewing. I’m guessing decaf is not an option! ;o)
Sammi says
It’s so interesting to see the plant because you would never think coffee would come out of it! I’ve only ever seen a couple decafs at the market 😛
Magdalena says
Great post, thank you guys!!! Can you tell me where is Beneficio? I would love to go there!
Sammi says
Thanks! There are multiple ones in the country and the most popular one is in Heredia.
Lindsey Monge says
We had this traditional style pour-over coffee in Brasilito when we visited the cafe del mangalar. I wondered if you know how fine should you grind the coffee for this filter? The same as a coffee maker or more fine like powder?
yeison says
Hola Lindsey
My grandmother always says that you need to use 2 teaspoon for each cup. Also an old costarican lady that I know told me that you need to poor the coffee twice in order to a better flavor.
Jon Patrick says
Hey guys!
Found you through your interview over at A Couple Travelers.
This is awesome! Love your Love Story, and an amazing amount of content here!
Most importantly, I LOVE Coffee, so I appreciate this. Gotta go find some now!
Jon
yeison says
Hi Jon !!!
We love coffee too, actually Samantha is making some nice 100% Costa Rica gourmet arabica coffee for breakfast, thank you so much for your kind words … Hope to keep in contact and good luck with your 6 figures project.