Costa Rica and Her Coffee
Costa Rica, high above the mountainous terrain surrounded in lush green foliage, sits the coffee plantation called La Hacienda La Minita, growers of Tarrazu Coffee. My husband and I along with good friends of ours, had the pleasure of visiting this plantation, or growers farm, a few years ago, Costa Rica, is beautiful, with one of the lushest rain forests in the world.
We rented a four wheel drive vehicle, traveling up some steep terrain, into the mountains where we stopped to sample fresh mini bananas from the ample trees, and were greeted by monkeys that hung and swung from branch to branch, I later learned they were called spider monkeys; they are kind of small, black and have long lanky arms, hence the name.
Finding our destination, we followed a palm tree lined road, and saw in the distance acres of bushy green trees, all lined in rows. We parked and were greeted by our guide for the day. We started in the fields where we learned the rich volcanic soil, climate and abundant rainfall, makes it the perfect environment for growing coffee. The beans themselves looked like red berries on the vines, and the soil has something to do with giving them the perfect acidity.
There is a welcomed breeze, the air is hot and heavy, carrying a faint aroma of beans roasting, a part of the plantation where we would be visiting soon. We watched beans being sorted, laid out on top of screens framed with wooden boards the length of an Olympic pool, rows and rows, where men used a long handled tool resembling a broom, moving the beans as they dried in the sun. Our guide then took us to the roasting room, where huge stainless steel vats with glass windows tumbled the roasting beans, the smell was heavenly. I could have stayed and smelled that all day, but the best part was next, the tasting room. Here they ground fresh beans at different stages of roast, like done to well done. Large brewers were filled with every type of coffee bean they grew, and we were allowed to sample all of them. It was the best coffee I have ever had, rich and smooth. We purchased bags of fresh roasted beans to take home, had a wonderful lunch and enjoyed the caffeine buzz on our journey back down the mountain. We spent another day zip lining across the canopies of the rain forest while there, but I’ll save that for another story.
