El Toledo Coffee Tour

As with a lot of places during the pandemic, a reservation is required (call or through their site). HOWEVER, I inquired for a reservation ~22:00 on a Saturday night and by the next morning we were confirmed for a Sunday tour. The owners were incredibly flexible on the time (since we couldn't attend during the usual time slots and then we arrived 45 minutes early)! They were incredibly knowledgeable, spoke amazing English, and showed us a lot of local Costa Rican produce and so much of the coffee process. For the cheap price, I couldn't believe how many samples we had and it was ALL delicious. My husband wasn't looking forward to this but said it was so much better than he imagined. Go!

This family farmer gave the most thought-provoking and entertaining intellectual discussion on global sustainability. We did a coffee tasting and pairing, followed by coffee roasting. Then a beautiful tour of the farm, growing and harvesting coffee , separating it, drying and using the coffee cherries. They shared lots of important eco farming info. He even climbed a cacao tree and we got to eat a little of the cacao fruit. We all came away with so much. Information and insight as well as wonderfully delicious products including coffee cherry wine and coffee bean wine. Also wine tasting and coffee tea tasting. definitely a highlight of Costa Rica!

Probably my favorite part of this trip. The owner did a spectacular job of not just informing us about the coffee and coffee harvesting but also the upside and the downsides and how they are mitigating for the downsides. We got to learn a great deal about diverse planting, issues in the coffee industry, and how they're creating new products with the coffee plant. Also this whole place is like a secret magical garden! We truly appreciate both owners doing this for us on a Sunday.