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2 hours ago, cdh said:

tell us about the coffee scene in Costa Rica. 

Well, you are partly right. I have been in some coffee producing countries and they do drink instant coffee predominantly. Not Nescafe but instant coffee produced in their own country. Nicaragua makes a killer instant coffee. If you ever see it it is called Presto. It is what most of the people there drink. I always have a jar on hand for baking even though I don't drink it myself.

Costa Rica is different. They are very proud of their coffee and their coffee heritage and everybody drinks the real stuff.

I don't know about most companies but some years ago we did a tour of a small coffee plantation and the owner took us on the tour. When we got to the coffee sorting machine he explained that the larger coffee beans go to the US and the European prefer the smaller coffee beans. These are shipped green and whole. The broken coffee beans were the ones that they kept for local consumption and those they roasted and packaged for sale. He said that he preferred the broken beans because they presented more surface area for roasting and never got bitter.

Our major coffee producer here is Cafe Britt. It's gone kind of along the lines of Starbucks and at times it gets a little bitter. I think I've tried just about every brand that they have here and I keep going back to one favorite, Montaña. When my grandson comes down, he always takes about 30 lb of coffee back with him. He goes to the Central Market and buys one of the brands that is probably the oldest in the country, Volio. He watches them roast it, grind it, and pack it in paper bags. He takes some back as gifts and keeps the rest in the refrigerator for himself and when it is gone, it is time to come back down.

I just wanted to say that picking coffee is one of the hardest jobs in the whole country. When my grandson was down here as a student, he had some time off and decided to try coffee picking. He lasted only 2 days and wound up making a total of about $2. He says it makes him appreciate his coffee even more.

2 hours ago, cdh said:

tell us about the coffee scene in Costa Rica. 

Well, you are partly right. I have been in some coffee producing countries and they do drink instant coffee predominantly. Not Nescafe but instant coffee produced in their own country. Nicaragua makes a killer instant coffee. If you ever see it it is called Presto. It is what most of the people there drink. I always have a jar on hand for baking even though I don't drink it myself.

Costa Rica is different. They are very proud of their coffee and their coffee heritage and everybody drinks the real stuff.

I don't know about most companies but some years ago we did a tour of a small coffee plantation and the owner took us on the tour. When we got to the coffee sorting machine he explained that the larger coffee beans go to the US and the European prefer the smaller coffee beans. These are shipped green and whole. The broken coffee beans were the ones that they kept for local consumption and those they roasted and packaged for sale. He said that he preferred the broken beans because they presented more surface area for roasting and never got bitter.

Our major coffee producer here is Cafe Britt. It's gone kind of along the lines of Starbucks and at times it gets a little bitter. I think I've tried just about every brand that they have here and I keep going back to one favorite, Montaña. When my grandson comes down, he always takes about 30 lb of coffee back with him. He goes to the Central Market and buys one of the brands that is probably the oldest in the country, Volio. He watches them roast it, grind it, and pack it in paper bags. He takes some back as gifts and keeps the rest in the refrigerator for himself and when it is gone, it is time to come back down.

I just wanted to say that picking coffee is one of the hardest jobs in the whole country. When my grandson was down here as a student, he had some time off and decided to try coffee picking. He lasted only 2 days and wound up making s total of about $2. He says it makes him appreciate his coffee even more.