Coffee isn’t just an industry in Costa Rica, it is a way of life. Today we were able to tour a Doka coffee plantation, which belongs to the Vargas family. They walked us through the entire coffee-producing process, starting with growing the plant and ending with exporting the (unroasted) beans.

For me, the most surprising thing about the growing processes was that the plants are initially growing they are kept in individual pots so they can be nurtured, after three years they are ready to be harvested so they are moved into the fields. After 25 years of producing the coffee berries, the plants will be replaced with new ones, as their production decreases as they age.

I thought that the technology they used was extraordinarily sustainable and efficient. As we walked through their 100-year-old mill, I was in awe that the mill was still in use. I thought that their process can’t be changed much except maybe the incorporation of greater amounts of machinery. But I think that the less technology they need the better, as it is more reliable. So I’ll leave the coffee manufacturing to the coffee experts and put all of my trust in the established process.

I think that Costa Rican coffee certainly lives up to the hype, as they only survive because the quality is so high. I believe Don Mario, the general manager of Doka, in the fact that coffee flows through the veins of the families who produce it. The effort and passion put into producing the golden beans is impossible to rival and the taste is even harder to beat!