Coffee is no joke — that is what I learned today at the Doka tour. Between the production process, the logistics, the cultural implications, and the different levels of quality, there is so much to learn about the coffee industry.

Some things that particularly surprised me to learn was how multifaceted it is to make coffee. From plant to quality control to stripping and drying and roasting. There are so many steps to making quality coffee. Further I was surprised to learn that though regarded as some of the best coffee in the world, Costa Rican coffee accounts for very little of the market. Therefore they focus much closer on the quality of their product rather than the quantity. Something else that interested me was to learn about the ways in which they strive to produce very little waste. The environment and sustainability are my favorite subjects and to see the “decoy” fruit trees so that they coffee plants wouldn’t be eaten by bugs, water recycling, and composting were all fascinating.

The technology used on the plantation was old, very old. Yet with the focus being to make quality coffee, and not to mass produce millions of pounds of the commodity, I guess “if it ain’t broke…” Additionally, the coffee beans are harvested by manual labor, largely from Nicaraguans trying to make an honest wage to send back home. Yet even with the labor, there happened to be a Costa Rican standard of excellence. While they are paid little, they are also compensated with housing, water, and nurseries for their children so they can save the money they make. This extra expense, as well as the costs of land, make start up costs very high for new coffee plantations. However, this is another avenue to explore in how friendliness and compassion can often be seen in Costa Rican culture.

Lastly, it is safe to say that the coffee was everything it was cracked up to be…I think. I am no coffee expert in any way. All I know is that I enjoyed drinking the coffee, even with no sugar or milk, which I cannot say about the coffee back home.