Costa Rican Coffee

Wednesday July 11                                  

I mentioned earlier that coffee is available 24 hours a day here in the cafeteria. What I did not mention is how unbelievably delicious the coffee is. We drink it with milk, milk and sugar, and most recently we have been making iced coffee with the addition of chocolate powder!!  Today we took an amazing field trip to Mi Cafecito coffee plantation in Alajuela.  What a treat. The proud owners of this cooperative consist of 137 farmers from the northern region of the country. The coffee is organically grown, and it is fair trade. Fair trade benefits the local community, and promotes sustainability. Walter, our extremely knowledgeable guide gave us a quick history lesson and showed us how the beans are picked, processed, dried and packaged. Then it was off for a hike through the forest to see the Maria Aguilar waterfalls and a breathtaking view of the Braulio Carrillo National Park. As if that was not enough, when we returned from our walking tour, we were treated to a delicious cup of coffee and a light meal including a sweet roll, a cheese taquito, and a bean tostada. Needless to say, we all had a great time and purchased coffee to bring back to the States.  

Shade Grown, Organic, Fair Trade Coffee



Shade Grown coffee - note coffee plants in a row with larger trees on both sides.  Banana plants were nearby to distract the birds from the coffee plants.





Coffee plant with flowers and fruits



Shade grown, organic and free trade coffee was on the agenda for our teams today. We went by van to see the coffee operation. It is a cooperative of  small coffee farms.



Coffee beans drying



The coffee beans are harvested by hand as soon as they are ripe.  We saw the whole process that they go through.  Processing uses a lot of water.  This is not in short supply here, but the water needs to be cleaned before it can go back out into the environment.  Tilapia are raised here in the water from the coffee processing.  The fish clean the water and provide food at the same time!

Tilapia Raised Here





The fruit that contains the coffee bean as well as the seed coat from the beans are composted using vermiculture - red worms.  There was a large building where this takes place.  The compost is then used to organically fertilize the coffee plants. 



Red Worms in Compost



We have all heard of shade grown coffee - here it was!  Large trees are standing by the rows of coffee plants.  These help to protect the plants in heavy rain.  In addition, there are banana plants nearby for the birds.  Instead of birds feeding on the coffee, they are attracted to the banana plants. 

Great example of sustainability!  This is a well thought out system and seems to work really well.  And the coffee was delicious!





Vermiculture Building - full of composting materials and redworms