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.
History says that back in 1720, the first coffee beans where brought to Martinica and then to Costa Rica at the end of the XVIII century.
Costa Rica was the first country in the area to develop the coffee industry and since then, the government was motivating farmers to grow coffee. Sometimes they even gave land to the farmers without cost in order to increase the national production.
Costa Rican Coffee
The best coffee quality by law
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, of which the variety Caturra and Catuaí are the ones we use in Costa Rica. More than 80% of our 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.
Costa Rican 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 Costa Rican coffee because it is the best in the world.
Brands
The most sold brands are the 1820, Cafe Rey and Dorado and most of the customers are Costa Ricans. You can find many brands of coffee in the country, from big companies like Britt to local stores that make their own product.
If you visit Costa Rica we highly recommend you to visit a Beneficio, where the coffee beans are processed. 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. I have been in the Britt and Doka Coffee tour and both are great.
Our favorite coffees are Peaberry by Doka, French Roast by Doka, Terrazu by Cafe Rey, 1820 and Triángulo de Oro.
Coffee Collecting
Another activity that is part of our culture is to collect coffee. My mom and her brothers did this when they were young to make money and nowadays they pay from $1.80 to $2 for a basket. It is a tough job but a good collector fills around 15 baskets a day.
Most of the Costa Ricans don’t collect coffee as a job anymore because the pay is very low and there are easier jobs available. The ones in charge are seasonal workers that come from Nicaragua and some rural parts of the country.
When I was a kid (lonnngggg time ago) I remember going to my grandmother’s house and something I will never forget is the coffee smell in the house every afternoon. It is a Costa Rican tradition to drink coffee around 3 pm and the secret was the way how my grandma brewed coffee.
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 🙂
You can buy Costa Rica Coffee online!
(If you buy through these links you will be supporting our blog, we get a tiny commission)
Learn more about the food and drink of Costa Rica here.
Introduction to traditional food of Costa Rica
Costa Rican beer
More traditional Costa Rican food
Costa Rican copo (street food)
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
Coffee isn’t for everyone and it’s definitely an acquired taste! Haha that’s more like a dessert than coffee 😉
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 😀
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!
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!
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 🙂
We are in Costa Rica now visiting ;). It’s beautiful here. Thanks for your post! I will buy coffee to bring home.
Yay! Glad you guys love it. Yes, coffee is the best to bring back!
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?
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
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)
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 😛
Great post, thank you guys!!! Can you tell me where is Beneficio? I would love to go there!
Thanks! There are multiple ones in the country and the most popular one is in Heredia.
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?
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.
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
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.