Between nature walks with Koky, Tony and I took off to learn about the local coffee production process. We were picked up at Stella’s Bakery in town (after a delicious lunch), and taken to a family coffee farm in the San Luis Valley, right on the Continental Divide.
The San Luis Valley.
The El Cafetal Coffee Tour took us to the farm of Victor Ramírez, a local man who has worked in the Costa Rican coffee business for many years. In 2008, his family launched the coffee tour to give visitors a glimpse of their process, from planting to brewing.
Our tour guide, Gabby, walked us through the property and explained some of the eco-conscious practices aimed at sustainability. For example, all of the coffee plants are grown organically with a variety of fruit trees interspersed to provide shade, attract pollinators, and drop organic material that acts as mulch. She said Victor is constantly looking for innovative ways to reduce the impact of coffee production on the environment. He is presently working on new techniques to reduce the amount of water used in the process of washing the beans.
Baby coffee plants in the plastic bags.
A typical basket used for picking coffee cherries.
Gabby explained that a virus called roya is wreaking havoc on coffee plants in the region. Many of the plants on the farm have been affected and generate far fewer berries, so Ramírez is experimenting with different varieties of coffee plants in hopes of finding ones that resist the virus while also producing quality beans. Unfortunately, it takes several years for new plants to produce coffee, so there’s no way to rush to a solution.
Tony holds a leaf from a plant with the virus.
Unripe coffee cherries. Ripe ones turn bright red.
Machinery used for processing the coffee cherries.
Drying beans.
In an old house on the farm, Gabby showed us the way previous generations would have made coffee. We smashed beans with a pílon to remove the outer shells. Then we roasted them in a pan over a wood fire before pulverizing them with a hand cranked grinder.
This is the final product: Café San Luis. We sampled a cup at the end of the tour. Delicious!
Seeing this time-consuming, labor-intensive process – planting the seedlings, caring for the vulnerable plants, selectively hand-picking the ripe coffee cherries, and methodically getting the beans ready for roasting – reminds me of an exercise in my recent mindfulness training. We practiced taking “mindful mouthfuls” because we often eat mindlessly, not even noticing the taste or texture, much less honoring the work that went into getting that food or beverage to our mouths. After this tour, I can’t imagine I will ever drink coffee the same way again.
Hi Sharon,
Thanks for the informative article on ElCafetal Coffee Plant. My wife & I will be arriving by cruise ship to Puntarenas, CR in January. Which tour company or driver did you use to get to the Coffee Plant? Did you also tour San Luis Park?
Thanks
Stephen