Baristas At Origin!

Hey folks – we have a couple co-workers running around Costa Rica right now. Kristi and Katie are taking a vacation and stopping in on some farms along the way. Thanks to Aleco from Stumptown and Tim O’Brien from Cafetin Coffee for hosting, feeding, cupping and transporting… The rest of this entry is from an email we received from our two explorers this afternoon.
“Dear Friends,
We made it! We arrived in CR Tuesday night and were whisked away early the next morning by Aleco (Stumptown) and Juan Ramon (Brumas del Zurqui). We spent 7 hours driving in/around/through the Central Valley visiting farms, mills and washing stations. 7 hours of unpaved clay/dirt roads so bumpy my abs are sore from trying not to bang my head on the window or get whiplash!
This place is insanely gorgeous. The valley is a giant bowl filled with coffee plants and banana trees, along with hundreds of other plants and trees. We saw Don Mayo, Cafetin Typica and Montes de Oro, as well as a few other places. We stayed last night at Montes de Oro in the “rustic” cabin they have for visitors. The cabin was nicer than either of our houses with two bedrooms, kitchen, bathroom, living room and a wrap-around porch overlooking the town of San Pablo and the surrounding valley.
Today we are back in San Jose at Exclusive Coffees cupping, so far, 40 coffees from the region. My senses are overwhelmed!
We have been learning so much about this process! Seeing the hills lined with plants, eating a coffee cherry right off the plant, seeing each step of the washing process, walking on the patios…every part of it makes so much more sense when you get to experience it first hand. Meeting the owners, managers and workers literally closes the circle for us.
After tonight Kristi and I are on our own. Aleco is going on to Panama! We wish we could go too, but it’s all driving and work and we are supposed to be on vacation! So, we are planning to go to Arenal Volcano and the Monteverde Cloud Forest for a few days, then on to the Carribean Coast to chill Rastafari style.
Hope the snow is already gone! We will be back before you know it. Thanks to you all for making this a reality for us. Everybody, you got to get here some time!
See you soon, xo
Katie and Kristi”
Awesome. They better take a bunch of photos…