Café Britt Coffee Tour
Yes, technically this was yesterday, but I didn't want to make that post a day and a half long. So here I am, because we didn't have an eventful day today.
So we got on a big tour bus and headed to the coffee plantation near Heredia. We got stickers that divided us into groups, and sampled the coffee while we waited for the guides to get to us. There was a dark and light roast, and I didn't like either of them black. I struggle with black coffee. Just.. yuck. But the SOLmates that enjoy black coffee said it was good, and I'll take their word for it.
We headed on a path that the guides led us on, and first got to the coffee plant nursery. They explained how the planting season works and that once the plants get to a certain age that they're transplanted and put in pairs until they're too big when they're transplanted again. Then we moved on to the actual plantation, where they showed us the baskets that are used for harvesting beans, and explained that even though we have coffee year-round, they only harvest beans for 3 months out of the year. Last was the station where they showed us all the different parts of the bean with an enlarged model (about the size of a basketball). This specific company is sustainable, so they use every part of the bean for one thing or another. Pretty neat!
Last they showed us a little video of their history, explained how to make blends, and had some volunteers come up and try to be professional tasters. We went into the gift shop, where they of course had coffee, but also chocolate covered beans and fruits. The guides were charismatic and played off of each other's humor; it was definitely a good tour!