Morning Coffee In Costa Rica

Each morning I tend to wake before the others. I rise either just before sunrise or just after. The sun is so bright upon its rise that it makes sleeping in impossible for me. I really don't mind since I have no where to be and can take time to enjoy the sights, sounds and smells of the morning. Most mornings I am greeted by ants. Keeping the ants out of the house is a daily and sometimes hourly struggle. They are small ants but they bite (and it hurts and then later itches). Those of you in the southern part of the United States can understand, they are just like fire ants. After a good morning sweep of the broom I can now focus my energy on coffee. I love coffee. I'm pretty sure I'm addicted to the process of making my morning coffee as well as the taste. I am able to enjoy my cup of coffee alone in peace with nothing but nature and my thoughts to keep me company.

On Monday we drove nearly 3 hours to tour a coffee plantation. Kris had planned this for my birthday on Saturday but unfortunately the plantation is closed on the weekends (which if I'm being honest I love. It's nice to see a company shut down and give its workers time with their families. This company is obviously one that could run 24 hours a day). I digress.

The journey to the plantation was an adventure in itself. The roads to the plantation were filled with unexpected craziness. There were sections of the road, while during the rainy season would be a flowing river but during the dry season they are a stagnate pond. The kids and I had to get out of the car in order to lighten the load so Kris could navigate the safely through the water without flooding the car. Boyd and I would walk through the "pond" to show Kris where the deepest parts were (which Boyd absolutely loved the opportunity to get in a giant mud hole). We encountered about 6 of these "ponds" on our way to the plantation and the second one proved almost enough for us to turn around and call it a day. We pushed on and finally made it to the coffee plantation in time for our tour.

The plantation was a "throw back" experience. We were all amazed at the simplicity of processing coffee and how old the machinery was they used to process it (the machine was over 60 years old). Now planting and harvesting coffee is another story. Our tour guide Juanes was wonderful and gave homage to the labor intensive life of a coffee worker. This particular plantation was a direct provider of coffee to the Costco Brand, Kirkland. Costco is their biggest account and where most of their coffee beans go. The United States and Canada are the main consumers of their coffee. Juanes went on to tell us that there is very little benefit for coffee farmers to provide an organic product. The difference of profit is $1.00. The farmers really does not see a large profit for providing an organic product. The red tape and expense to provide such product is not worth the minimal profit. They have over four hundred farmers growing over 600 acres of coffee and of those 400 farmers only one provides an organic coffee bean.

Several fun facts that we learned while on the coffee tour:

1. Women are faster and better pickers. Their smaller and more nimble hands can pull the coffee berry off the plant faster and with more efficiency.

2. Each worker receives $ 2.00 per basket ( see picture of the kids with the basket around their waist). So the faster you work the more you get paid.

3. Dark roast coffee has less caffeine than light roast.

Why you may ask?

Because the longer the bean roasts... the more of the natural oil (which contains the caffeine) burns off leaving it with less caffeine in the bean.

4. Coffee plants are very picky plants. They need sun and shade in order to be a productive plant. Too much sun they will burn up and too much shade they will not produce berries.

5. The coffee plant is planted in a bag with 2 plants per bag.

Why two plants in one bag?

The plants will compete with each other producing 2 very hardy plants.

We wrapped up the tour meeting a family from New Jersey who have a vacation home in Costa Rica. His name was Dan and his wife and mother were at the processing plant to have their home grown coffee processed. This couple decided to take on the adventure of learning to grow and harvest coffee for their family. They brought their berries to the processing center to be processed, roasted and ground. They were pleased with their harvest and they should have enough for a year of coffee drinking. Dan shared with us a small town called Guaitil. This town is known for pottery. We decided to stay the night at a hotel in Nicoya and visit the pottery town the following day.

We checked into a local hotel and let the kids play in the pool to burn off some energy. They did great in the car for 3 hours and then at the coffee plantation tour for another hour and a half so they needed an outlet for their pent up energy. While watching the kids play in the pool we met a lovely family who struggled to communicate in English as we struggled to communicate in Spanish. It was fun trying to learn the language in conversation form. I am in the process of learning Spanish with Rosetta Stone but it is proper Spanish and as everyone knows most dialects have slang and a more casual way of speaking. Their "Abuela" (grandmother) was at the pool and she took a liking to us. She spent time with me, talking slow, so I could understand the language. We also had the help of Google when neither of us could understand. She was wonderful and I would have loved to keep her with me so she could help with my language lag.

The following morning we ate breakfast at the hotel. The other family was there and Tita ( the name they call their grandmother) joined our table and began to converse with us like old friends. She was such a sweet spirit. Her energy was pure and kind. I was sorry to see her go. She will stay with me in spirit.

We packed up our very few belongings and headed to the town of Guaitil. We arrived at the first of many pottery homes, this one called Chorotega Pottery Guaitil. We met the owner Andy. He was a young 3rd generation pottery maker. His grandmother taught him and passed on her talent to Andy. Andy walked us through the entire pottery making process. From finding the right clay soil, to spinning, to baking. He allowed the kids to participate in the process. The kids were entranced especially Blythe as she loves all things Art. She was ready to jump in and create. She used the clay Andy gave her to create a Ice cream cone for him. Andy was impressed with her skills and encouraged her to continue her passion. We purchased three pieces of pottery from the three shops we visited and are now faced with the task of getting them home in one piece.

I am loving this adventure in Costa Rica. It was such a good decision to come to such a remote part of the country and relax. The past six months have been packed with celebrations, attractions, educational exhibits and tourist spots. That has been wonderful too but it has been nice to pause, take a swing in the hammock, and reflect on all that we have and dream about what is to come.

Love to all

Pura Vida