Coffee

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    Do you like coffee, but really good coffee? Then you have to visit "Castilla Coffee House" in Barva, Heredia, where Diego, a young economist and a coffee lover such as his dad, Mister William, will offer you an excellent cup of coffee with a different taste to those you have tasted before. The coffee they offer to the visitors comes from the main coffee producing areas of Costa Rica and is of gourmet type top quality. 
     
    You can choose the coffee you wish, choosing between a more acid, intense, sweet, flavored or more balanced taste. Additionally, you will find delicious homemade snacks that they prepare themselves for these special cups of coffee. Part of the experience that you will live is that any information you wish to know about the Costa Rican coffee, any details, history or others, they will know how to answer you because they have been and always will be true coffee lovers. "What better experience is having a coffee... but informed". 
    Further remembering that Costa Rica is one of the best coffee producers in the world, especially for its quality and not volume.
    Café Castilla has been 11 years in the same place with the main intention of offering the "diversification of coffee by region in Costa Rica".
    Location: Barva, Heredia, 125 meters south of the Municipality. You can also find them using Waze. They are open Monday to Saturday from 9:30 to 20:00.
     
     
     

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    *A refreshing route to visit in Costa Rica
     
     
    Cartago is one of the 7 provinces in Costa Rica. It is close to San José, only about 20-30 minutes away.  You will find it completely different, almost like another country due to the change of the vegetation and weather, making Cartago a calm place to visit. This small province has beautiful places to visit for its spacious and refreshing views. 
     
    During the weekend we looked forward to taking a trip near this city to refresh the mind and, above all, change a little bit the environment of the city. We took the road to Llano Grande in Cartago. This district of Cartago has a special characteristic because you can find a Paradise of Roses, where these roses show their diverse colors, sizes and aromas.  This paradise is located in the Roses Touristic Garden, known as "Solo Rosas" (Only Roses), where there are more than 516 different species of roses. There is an interesting guided tour in the trails of the rosebushes. Workshops on the different cultural practices of rosebushes in gardens are available. 
     
    “The rosebushes in this great garden make “Solo Rosas" a unique garden in Latin America”, commented Mr. Martín Guzmán Calderón, the owner, who we found enjoying his work in his workshop preparing roses that were almost ready to deliver to the different florists in the country. 
     
    And what a better way to finish our tour around this area than bringing with us a bouquet of our favorite roses freshly cut; and with an exquisite Costa Rican typical meal in the restaurant of the area called "Flores y Café". 
     
    Location: 600 meters East and 300 meters North from the Catholic Church of Llano Grande, Cartago.
     
     
     
     
     
     
     

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    *A 100% local product, crafted by Costa Rican artisans.
     
     
    While we were taking a walk through the FID (International Design Festival) recently held in our country, the brand CR Woodcraft captured our attention immediately. We stopped and approached the small stand with its product that, in my opinion, where almost unique in their design. Mario León, who kindly provided us his presentation card, commented that he, along with his friend David and his two brothers where the ones that started this woodcraft brand. 
     
    The name of the brand has its origin in using wood as the main product and producing or doing something with dedication, skill and ingenuity: to craft.
     
    The products of the brand CR Woodcraft have as purpose a "daily use" either in the house or in the office. Among their main products we can find the famous "Chorreador de Café", crafted with great taste and "La Colmena", an attractive honey dispenser. Both products are inspired in the direct relationship between bees and coffee flowers due to caffeine. They wish to take this to people that enjoy beauty and design in daily life products. 
     
    Something that really captured our attention is their intention to elaborate their products with total integrity. That is why, as a group, they have decided to support local artisans with the elaboration of their products. They extract the raw material they use only from forests managed responsibly and have invested a percentage of the utilities in planting new forests through the Association "Let's plant trees", in which Mario is also he co-founder. 
     
    Because of this, it would be an excellent option for an exclusive souvenir from Costa Rica to take to your home or office, but above all, of great use in the morning for preparing breakfast or any other activity where you wish to share with others a good Costa Rican coffee or some toasts with honey. 
     
    For more information: https://www.crwoodcraft.com/
    Photos by CR Woodcraft
     
     
     
     
     

     

     

     

  • Special place in the center of Amón Neighborhood

    Since you arrive at the place, your sight is captured by tasteful and cozy decoration, which immediately reminds you of that feeling you get at your grandma´s house, but with a modern spin. Alma Amon has an inviting atmosphere, perfect for conversation with friends or family, or a business meeting.

    Kathy, part of the team behind this project, gave us a short tour of the restaurant. She tells us that the place is a fusion of different Latinamerican traditions and trends, from its ambience to its delicious plates and beverages. Such is the case of the cocktail, “Chespirito” (made with with ginger beer, tequila, lemon of “Tapa de Dulce”, very typical in CR), and the Shrimp-Coconut and Lemon ceviche, which has a very distinctive Caribbean flavor.

    Photos of Franklin Chang, Papa Benedicto, Chespirito, Pele, Eva Perón and other famous faces decorate its old brick walls and a beautiful custom wallpaper enhances the décor of the place, together with the soft latin music in the background. Make sure you don´t miss the delicious homemade desserts such as: chocolate churros, and crème caramel with coconut.

    Schedule: Monday through Thursday from 11 am to 11 pm/ Friday and Saturday from 11 am to 12 pm/Sunday from 11 am to 6 pm. Location: San Jose Center, Calle 5, Avenida 9.

    More information:

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    Are you visiting Costa Rica for business or pleasure? You cannot miss the opportunity of tasting the delicious Caribbean cuisine of our country. You will find it very accessible or almost normal if you visit for tourism the Atlantic area, but it will take you a few hours traveling there. For this reason, we give an excellent option if you are only staying in San José and not planning on visiting the Atlantic area. This alternative, very close to San José donwtown, is called "Caribbean Delights" in Tibás Coffee and Lunch. 
     
    This little restaurant, decorated with many colors of the Caribbean culture, offers you diverse snacks and Caribbean dishes for lunch, a coffee in the afternoon or a dinner prepared in a rapid way. Among the dishes they offer you can find: patty, rice and beans, plantains, Caribbean sweet bread, chicken-meat or fish Caribbean style, banana and carrot cupcakes, and of course, the refreshing Caribbean drinks such as  "hiel" with sugar, lemon and ginger, and the "sorrel" with Jamaican rose and ginger. But the most different thing about this place is the delicious Caribbean sauce they prepare. You will want to put more of this sauce to your Caribbean dish. 
     
    Location: San Juan de Tibás, Plaza del Valle. Only 10 minutes away from San José downtown. https://www.facebook.com/caribbeandelights.cr/?fref=ts
     
     
     

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    This time, we went to Santa Bárbara de Heredia to know more about de local coffee production, visiting a family’s local coffee plant. This family is always working on it. 
    This opportunity, we were accompanied by Diego, an experienced local resident who loves the coffee’s theme. He has also studied this. Besides that, he has his own coffee shop whose name is Castilla. The same one offers a list of the country’s different gourmet coffees. Here, the foreign visitors can savor each coffee and know more nearly about each coffee and its characteristics because of Diego’s knowledge. 
     
     
    Before going out of that place, Diego told us “You should visit the Famous Bombi’s Old Masquerade Museum, located near the park.” We walked some squares from the coffee shop and we met Bombi (the local artist’s diminutive name). He opened kindly his workshop to know more about the Costa Rican Masquerade History and the way they are made. They are always ending with happiness in many country’s parties as the tradition is.  
     
     
    Well, so, we arrived to the local tour at the family coffee farm where the coffee harvesting is carried on yearly. The coffee is prepared for its national and international use. This relaxed and personalized tour showed us the daily reality of people who grow coffee at this zone.
     
     
    They love and respect primarily the coffee production in their prosperous agricultural lands. Coffee is one of Costa Rica’s main exporting products, besides banana. Coffee is presented in different forms like ground or whole bean. There are also candies, chocolates with coffee, and many other products.     More information:  https://www.facebook.com/cafeteriacastilla/
     
     
     
     
     
     
    Photo by:  Blog Life and Travel in Costa Rica 
     

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    *This is going to be a pleasant and small tour close to the city.
     
     
    We came to a sweet spot and, above all, charming to the palate for all of us that enjoy chocolate. This place I am telling you about is the "Chocolatería Britt", a store that for sure is going to be completely new for those that have not visit of heard about it. 
     
    But hey, what a better way to start the tour than with an excellent tasting of the Costa Rican coffee to get to know every corner of this chocolate store. 
     
    Many can imagine that the Britt brand is just "good coffee" from Costa Rica, and what they do not know is that now this brand also offers a line of delicious and exclusive products based on cocoa. We could find in our visit: various seeds for the best taste of each person, covered in chocolate, truffles, tropical fruits from the country (such as berries, passion fruit, cas, orange, all of them with chocolate), attractive and giant chocolate bars, and for a stronger and different flavor to our palate there are the cocoa beans covered with chocolate. It is hard to know what to choose between all of these delicious products.
     
    Besides the pleasant attention given in the store for the acquisition or tasting of the products, we could observe that the products have been design in an exclusive way following a great artisan process. Some of them call our attention, like the "Naranja Confitada" and the famous french "Macaroons" that have been tropicalized into our tropical fruits that, of course, you should taste when you take the tour in this store. 
     
    *Chocolatería Britt belongs to the Britt brand, a brand of gourmet and innovative products: gourmet chocolates, cookies and other products. 
    Opening hours: 10 am to 8 pm. Location: second floor, third stage of Multiplaza Escazú. Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/ChocolateriaBritt/