Tio Jose Coffee Farm

Today we went to the Tio Jose Coffee Farm. It is a small, family run, functioning coffee farm that has been in the family for 3 generations. Most of the coffee farmers here in Costa Rica sell their beans to big corporations that do the processing, packaging, and selling. Tio Jose decided, about 5 years ago to process and sell their own coffee locally. They do all of the work in-house. After being on the tour, I truly appreciate my coffee more. The farm is run by Jose, his brother and sister and their families, and his mom. They recently added tours to supplement the business. We had a tour of the farm, the process, lunch, and made our own chocolate.

Before we left the building, we had a blind taste test of three kinds of coffee - light, medium, and dark. We tried them again after eating something salty and then sweet. Turns out that eating those things affects what you taste in the coffee. Jose liked to say that there is no bad coffee, just bad ways to make it. The things that affect the taste of coffee are the temperature of the water, the ratio, the ground size, and the speed of brewing.

The farm is only about 5 acres and while most of it is full of coffee plants, there are many other things growing there alongside the coffee. Jose and his family understand the farming business and how some plants help others plants. They don't use any pesticides but do use smart planting to limit the spread of bugs and fungi. They also grow banana, black beans, sugar cane, cocoa beans, herbs, and other things too. We saw the coffee plants and learned that the beans are handpicked. We saw how the beans are shelled, dried, and then roasted. It takes about 10 days of good, dry conditions for the beans to dry. The harvest season is only about 4 months long, so they work very hard then to make the coffee for the year.

Upon returning to the house, some tourists left but four of us stayed for a traditional casada lunch - rice, beans, salad, plantains, and meat, in this case, chicken. We also wanted to experience making our own chocolate candy. Cocoa plants are native to Costa Rica but there is little demand for it since there is no major chocolate company in the country. We were given cocoa beans to shell and then crush with a pestle and could add whatever we wanted to it - sugar, dried milk, nuts, salt, pepper, etc . Mixing with a little bit of water, it made a small chocolate bar.

Jose and his family are always looking for ways to use all of their resources to both increase their profits and to better the environment. Most companies throw away the shells of the coffee beans but they have started using them to make a delicious tea, jam, wine, soap and an after dinner liquor. All of this, along with the roasted coffee beans, are available in their little store. They are continuing the tradition of coffee farming and planning for the next generation to continue in their footsteps.Read more