Love Coffee? Chocolate? Don Juan’s Is The Real McCoy

Don Juan Coffee Plantation in Monteverde

Sharing our visit to the Don Juan coffee plantation in Monteverde, Costa Rica. Not only did we find out how to grow coffee, we also learned about chocolate and sugar canes. What an amazing tour!

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Tell Me about Monteverde

The Monteverde Cloud Forest Reserve (Reserva Biológica Bosque Nuboso Monteverde) in Costa Rica consists of over 26,000 acres (10,500 hectares) of cloud forest. There are more than two thousand plant and insect species, and hundreds of species of mammals, birds, reptiles and amphibians.

What is a Cloud Forest?

A cloud forest is usually tropical but there are more moderate ones also (in the Pacific North West coastal area). Consisting of mostly evergreens with a low-level cloud cover, this forest is generally foggy at the vegetation level. Thanks to the abundance of water, there is lots of lush greenery in cloud forests.

During our visit, we took a treetop walk, by crossing six suspension bridges which elevated us up to monkey, squirrel and raptor level. With my MS, the walk was a bit longer than I had energy for, but the views were worth it. Just have to remember to bring my hiking poles next time.

Why is Monteverde Ideally Suited for Growing Coffee?

Originally, coffee plantations always were in the shade. But in the 1970s, farmers discovered that they could grow coffee in full sun and the berries would ripen faster and they got higher yields.

This seemed like a good idea at the time, but it turned out they had to use fertilizer and pesticides. Of course, these damaged the environment and caused health problems.

While the traditional, shaded coffee ripened more slowly and produced less, the quality of the coffee was much higher. In addition, the traditional shaded method provides living space for many wildlife species.

So currently, the preferred location for coffee plantations is in the shade. Since the Monteverde cloud forest is cool and shady, it is an ideal place to grow coffee, and they don’t need to use damaging pesticides and fertilizers.

Don Juan Coffee Plantation

After a bumpy bus ride with a short stop to see some howler monkeys, we arrived at the Don Juan Coffee Plantation.

Coffee Plantation Tour

We boarded a traditional ox cart to start our tour of the plantation. Although the ride didn’t last more than a few minutes, it got us some good Instagram pictures 😀 On our leisurely ride, I pondered the past and the farmers who must have used this day in and day out and gave a silent thank to our modern transportation methods.

Basically, the tour followed the journey from coffee bean seedling to productive trees and then the whole process of drying and lastly the final roasting. Stopping at different stations, we got to see up close what happens to our coffee before it arrives in our pantry.

How To Get from Coffee Bean to my Daily Cup of Joe?

Touring the plantation, we slowly started realizing how much WORK it is to get the coffee bean ready for roasting! In my imagination, I always figured “pick a bean, roast it, done!” So we found out that reality is totally different!

Washing, drying, hulling and even polishing are all necessary to get the ripe coffee bean (also called a cherry) ready for roasting. It is a multi step process and it was really interesting to watch it in real life at the Don Juan coffee plantation.

Did I Hear You Say “Chocolate”?

Time to move on to the cocoa section of the coffee plantation. After seeing the coffee beans, I kind of expected cocoa beans to look similar to coffee beans. Nope, they don’t. They actually grow together in big pods high in a tree.

Food of the Gods

In 1753, the botanist Carl Linnaeus must really have liked chocolate, because he named the cocoa tree “Food of the gods”. In Greek this translates to Theobroma (“theo” for “god”, while “broma” means “food”). Then he added Cacao (Spanish for cocoa) and named the tree “Theobroma Cacao”.

Get the Buzz: Mosquitoes and Chocolate

So you love chocolate but hate mosquitoes, right? Before visiting this coffee plantation, I was like that. But when we got to the cocoa part of the plantation, we were surprised that these trees rely entirely on mosquitoes for pollination! Simply said: No mosquitoes means no chocolate! Bring ’em on, I want my chocolate!

Fancy That: Fermented chocolate!

After finding out that cocoa beans grow in pods, we were curious to learn how they get processed. Well, it turns out they need to ferment for a while before they can be used.

For the chocolate flavor to develop from the initially bitter beans, they need to ferment for about a week.Traditionally this is done between two banana leaves. Patience is a virtue.

Chocolate Tasting Experience

After learning about the beans, it was time for tasting, a true chocolate fiesta. We extracted some of our own chocolate and our guide mixed it with different ingredients, resulting in heavenly deliciousness.

Just thinking back at this I can still taste the richness of freshly extracted (and fermented 🙂 cocoa beans.

Sugar

Growing up in the Netherlands, I knew where sugar came from: sugar beets! Later I found out that the sugar saga was a lot more complicated, starting during ancient times with sugar cane cultivation in Asia.

Quick History of Sugar

Once Europeans discovered sugar in Asia, Venice became one of the major sugar importers and distributors. In the mid-15th century, Europeans settled and started growing sugar on Madeira, and the Canary Islands. Although this made sugar more available, it still was really expensive and the common man was more likely to sweeten dishes with honey or malt.

Christopher Columbus introduced sugar cane samples to the New World, where it took off and still is a major part of the economy of many countries, like here in Costa Rica.

How to Get Sugar out of Sugar Cane

Living in New England, we have been to many cider presses parties, where we press apples to transform them into soft and hard ciders. So it was a fun discovery that sugar canes get processed in a similar way.

We got to press juice from a sugar cane, and even got to sip it. Frankly, it wasn’t super sweet, but still a cool experience. Then it was time to head back to the main building for some more coffee tastings.

Oh, and what about those sugar beets? They arrived late at the game, not until the 1700s, when the German chemist Andreas Sigismund Marggraf figured out a way to extract sugar from sugar beets. Currently, about 20 % of our white table sugar is from sugar beets, and 80 % comes from sugar cane.

ADA Accessibility of Don Juan Coffee Plantation

Because the whole tour is on paved paths and the total distance covered is not too far it would be very do-able in a wheel chair. As far as I remember, the main building was ADA accessible. While I have difficulty walking due to my MS, I was able to finish the whole tour without trouble. Still, I certainly welcomed the seating in the main building before and after the tour.

Conclusion: Coffee Plantation in Costa Rica

This tour was very informational, we learned tons, and we got to taste new flavors. Our advice “Go for it!” In addition to the coffee plantation we enjoyed visiting the cloud forest and its hanging bridges.

Have you been to Monteverde? Or a coffee plantation anywhere else? Please let us know in the comments.

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