Tuesday, November 29, 2005
A unique coffee gift for this Christmas
Looking for the unique gift that will make them feel special? Share your passion for exotic gourmet coffee with our coffee gift box. Each coffee gift box includes one pound of each of the finest Volcanica Coffees.
- Volcanica Blue Mountain Coffee
- Volcanica Reserve - Costa Rican Coffee
- Volcanica Original - Costa Rica Coffee
- Volcanica Gran Reserve - Kona Peaberry Coffee
Sunday, November 27, 2005
Costa Rica's Trade Deficit Grows As CAFTA Looms
The Costa Rican economy has traditionally been based on tourism and the export of agricultural products such as bananas and costa rica coffee; low prices for these two commodities have caused problems for the country since 1999. Its Pacific and Caribbean coastlands are lined with luxury hotel resorts. The introduction of a free trade zone fiscal regime has however resulted in a major national economic transformation with non-traditional goods now accounting for 68% of exports and agriculture representing only 17% of GDP.
While Costa Rica’s legislature agonizes over ratification of CAFTA (the Central American Free Trade Area), the country's trade deficit for the first 10 months of the year rose to $2.13 billion from $1.97 billion for the whole of 2004 despite a 10% rise in exports during the same period to $5.83 billion. Read full article.
While Costa Rica’s legislature agonizes over ratification of CAFTA (the Central American Free Trade Area), the country's trade deficit for the first 10 months of the year rose to $2.13 billion from $1.97 billion for the whole of 2004 despite a 10% rise in exports during the same period to $5.83 billion. Read full article.
Thursday, November 24, 2005
Puerto Rico loses between 30-40% of its coffee harvest each year because of a lack of pickers
Puerto Rico should solve its shortage of coffee pickers by importing workers from abroad instead of using inexperienced prisoners to harvest the beans, a mayor from the island`s coffee-growing region said. Inmates from Puerto Rico`s adult and juvenile jails have been trained by the government and are scheduled to begin harvesting next week, but Jayuya Mayor Jorge Gonzalez Otero said prisoners lack the agricultural experience necessary to pick the beans. Gonzalez urged Puerto Rico to import skilled farmworkers. "Foreign workers are the salvation and the solution for the coffee industry," he said. The mayor, who is also an agronomist, said Puerto Rico loses between 30-40% of its coffee harvest each year because of a lack of pickers -- a shortage he blamed on low wages.
Puerto Rico produces an excellent gourmet coffee bean but because of their low crop yeild, very little is exported. This same problem plauges the Tarrazu Coffee. Most of the workers who pick the Costa Rica Gourmet Coffee are foreigners.
Puerto Rico produces an excellent gourmet coffee bean but because of their low crop yeild, very little is exported. This same problem plauges the Tarrazu Coffee. Most of the workers who pick the Costa Rica Gourmet Coffee are foreigners.
Saturday, November 12, 2005
Amazing Race Teams trek to Costa Rica
The Paolos won that right by coming in first in the race from Panama to Costa Rica's Volcan Poas volcano and a Costa Rican Coffee Estate. As the other teams set to work sifting through 800 pounds of coffee in order to find a single red bean, the Weavers were forced to wait on the sidelines.
While the Weavers and struggling Gaghans sift through coffee, the other teams race to the next challenge to either collect four relics on a race through the rainforest canopy or gather 15 bushels of bananas at a plantation. The Paolo's decision to go with fruit – and their father's superhuman strength – paid off as the team sailed in to first place for the second week in a row. Read full article.
While the Weavers and struggling Gaghans sift through coffee, the other teams race to the next challenge to either collect four relics on a race through the rainforest canopy or gather 15 bushels of bananas at a plantation. The Paolo's decision to go with fruit – and their father's superhuman strength – paid off as the team sailed in to first place for the second week in a row. Read full article.
Fall Savings on Volcanica Gourmet Coffee
This Fall we have lowered our prices and offer free shipping. Try our selection of Costa Rican coffees and try our Volcanica Reserve Costa Rican Coffee with its silky yet robust flavor that will pick you up, now only $14.99. Or relax with our Volcanica Original Costa Rica Coffee with a smooth flavor for only $12.99.You can also save $5 on our exotic Blue Mountain Coffee or Kona Coffee. These prices are only for a limited time. We also offer free shipping on 3 or more items. Please visit us today at the home for fine gourmet coffee beans.
Sunday, November 06, 2005
Costa Rican Coffee loses are heavy from the hurricane season
Costa Rica has lost between 5 and 10 % of its 2005-06 coffee crop due to heavy rains caused by recent hurricanes, the head of the Costa Rican Coffee Institute said. Costa Rica`s forecast for the season had been 2.8 million quintals but beans had been knocked from plants by the rain and the spread of a fungus caused by the greater moisture. Hurricanes Stan and Wilma missed Costa Rica but rain bands associated with them brought weeks of heavy rains, causing flooding in the Pacific coast region of the country and washing out roads in mountainous, coffee-growing areas.
Friday, October 28, 2005
What is Specialty Gourmet Coffee
Specialty Coffee - Specialty Gourmet Coffee - There are two major types of coffee beans species but for coffee connoisseurs only the Arabica beans qualify as Specialty coffee. Arabica beans are the only ones to be drunk on there own, unblended.
All of the Costa Rican coffees from Tarrazu are specialty gourmet Arabica beans.
All of the Costa Rican coffees from Tarrazu are specialty gourmet Arabica beans.
Costa Rican coffee liqueur
We found ther is a liqueur that is made from Costa Rica coffee. TheDon Braulio Coffee Liqueur, if you can find it, is a truly fine Costa Rican coffee liqueur suitable for impressing more refined tastes. It blends well and has a bare hint of oak from the aged rum it contains.
Sunday, October 16, 2005
Bad New from Guatemalan Coffee Industry due to Hurricane Stan
Guatamala has an outstanding coffee similar to Costa Rica Coffee. Our simpathies go out to the many people who lost loved ones and the diffuculties experienced from our fellow coffee farmers.
Guatemala City According to preliminary estimates from the Guatemalan National Coffee Association, Anacafe, damages to coffee plants due to Hurricane Stan could amount to some 80,000 60-kilo bags (about 2.37% of the crop) or $10.6 million.
The president of Anacafe, Jose Angel Lopez told daily La Prensa Libre that the worse damages were reported in the departments of San Marcos, Retalhuleu, Quetzaltenango, Sololá and Suchitepéquez. He added that losses could reach $26.5 million (about 6% of the crop) if plantations and infrastructure are not rehabilitated soon.
Please keep the Guatamalan people in your prayers.
Guatemala City According to preliminary estimates from the Guatemalan National Coffee Association, Anacafe, damages to coffee plants due to Hurricane Stan could amount to some 80,000 60-kilo bags (about 2.37% of the crop) or $10.6 million.
The president of Anacafe, Jose Angel Lopez told daily La Prensa Libre that the worse damages were reported in the departments of San Marcos, Retalhuleu, Quetzaltenango, Sololá and Suchitepéquez. He added that losses could reach $26.5 million (about 6% of the crop) if plantations and infrastructure are not rehabilitated soon.
Please keep the Guatamalan people in your prayers.
Saturday, October 15, 2005
Costa Rican Estate Coffee
One of the finest estate gourmet coffees from the highly regarded Costa Rican Tarrazu region. Costa Rican estate coffee is a single origin coffee that has been hand picked from one of the best coffee farms in Tarrazu. That destingtion has gone to the Don Evelio coffee estate. We have traveled to this farm and have personally met the family.
Though many other Tarrazu coffee farm are also of a high quality, we have cupped the various farms and believe that Don Evelio has the best of the best. This could quite possibly be the finest coffee that is produced from this entire Central American country.
Though many other Tarrazu coffee farm are also of a high quality, we have cupped the various farms and believe that Don Evelio has the best of the best. This could quite possibly be the finest coffee that is produced from this entire Central American country.
Buy Costa Rica Coffee
One of the finest coffees in the world is Costa Rican coffee from the Tarrazu region. This world class coffee has a unique smooth and rich taste. You can buy Costa Rica coffee directly from Volcanica Coffee. The Tarrazu coffee beans are shipped directly from the farms through San Jose airport to Miami, Fl. You can be assured that this is 100% tarrazu coffee.
Thursday, October 06, 2005
Aromatic Neighbors: Current Crop Panamas and Costa Ricas
If Costa Rica is one of the world's best-known coffee origins, Panama may be one of the more obscure. Nevertheless, these two coffee neighbors share a border, and the growing region for fine Panama coffee is centered only twenty miles or so from the Costa Rica border on the slopes of Volcan Baru. Both origins are respected for quality, although neither is known for a particularly distinctive cup, with typical descriptors for Costa Rica coffee emphasizing a high-grown, cleanly acidy character and descriptors for Panama tending toward waffly words like "soft" or "sweet." I asked Rodger Owen, president and coffee ...Read Full Article
Sunday, October 02, 2005
Wal-Mart Buys Into Central America
In a little more than a year, Wal-Mart, the world's largest retailer, will likely have control over the largest retailer in Central America, the Central American Holding Company (CARHCO), which comprises 363 supermarkets throughout Central America, including such Costa Rican fixtures as Mas X Menos, Palí and Híper Mas. Its recent purchase of a one-third stake in CARHCO has some observers predicting growth for the Costa Rican economy, with others cautiously apprehensive about the potential competition. Read full article.
Saturday, October 01, 2005
Narrow passage of the Central American trade agreement
A free-trade agreement linking the US with the five Central American states and the Dominican Republic made it across the finish line in July – but just barely. Narrowly passing the Senate in early July, CAFTA then squeaked through the House by two votes. Even this small margin, the lowest for any modern American trade agreement, required a frenetic presidential lobbying campaign and a 47-minute vote
The region's reliance on sales of bananas, oil, and coffee has dropped; its vulnerability to the ebb and flood tides of global commodity markets has dropped as well. Joined with US$8 billion in agricultural and technology exports (plus US$10 billion in remittances from the United States), the CBI helped create a healthier regional economy, and probably made reconciliation and democracy a little easier. CAFTA, making the CBI privileges permanent and broader, will build on this foundation. Read full article.
The region's reliance on sales of bananas, oil, and coffee has dropped; its vulnerability to the ebb and flood tides of global commodity markets has dropped as well. Joined with US$8 billion in agricultural and technology exports (plus US$10 billion in remittances from the United States), the CBI helped create a healthier regional economy, and probably made reconciliation and democracy a little easier. CAFTA, making the CBI privileges permanent and broader, will build on this foundation. Read full article.
Tuesday, September 27, 2005
Costa Rica: ‘Switzerland of Central America’
Having traditionally been relying on the primary industries, such as coffee, banana and beef exports, the nation’s economy has recently emerged as a high-tech power in the region after the opening of a large computer chip plant in the late 1990s. Read full article.
Friday, September 02, 2005
Tico Coffee Strives for Improving its Origin Certifications
Costa Rica is working to improve it's quality of gourmet coffee to the world markets. This article except is from the Tico Times.
A plan jointly funded by the Spanish International Cooperation Agency and the Costa Rican Coffee Institute (ICAFE) aims to establish clear denominations of origin and geographic indicators - norms and labels that identify a product's origin and certify its quality - for Costa Rica coffee. By doing so, ICAFE hopes to further differentiate the country's coffee production from that of the rest of the world. Differentiation will result in better international coffee prices, according to the institute.
Representatives of the central Spain region of La Rioja's Regulator Council for the Qualified Denomination of Origin - the organization in charge of administrating and certifying denominations of origin for the region's wines - visited the country to meet with ICAFE and discuss preliminary plans for the project. Read full article.
A plan jointly funded by the Spanish International Cooperation Agency and the Costa Rican Coffee Institute (ICAFE) aims to establish clear denominations of origin and geographic indicators - norms and labels that identify a product's origin and certify its quality - for Costa Rica coffee. By doing so, ICAFE hopes to further differentiate the country's coffee production from that of the rest of the world. Differentiation will result in better international coffee prices, according to the institute.
Representatives of the central Spain region of La Rioja's Regulator Council for the Qualified Denomination of Origin - the organization in charge of administrating and certifying denominations of origin for the region's wines - visited the country to meet with ICAFE and discuss preliminary plans for the project. Read full article.
Wednesday, August 31, 2005
Quality the Niche for Costa Rican Coffee
Experts agree that quality is the only way for Costa Rican coffee to compete in the world market. Low quality, high quantity conventional coffee is dominated by Brazil and Vietnam – which just replaced Colombia as the world’s second biggest producer. The price drop and global oversupply sparked by Vietnam’s onslaught of production through massive government subsidy programs will only get worse, as the country continues planting new trees that will bear even more fruit in the next five years.
Yet, while the purchasers and peddlers of the lowest quality canned coffee celebrate the never-ending price downslide, the world’s specialty coffee gurus say there must be a better way. But forging new markets is never easy, and for many, creating specialty niches, such as fair trade, organic, sustainable and even "bird-friendly" coffees can be a complex matter.
The problems are numerous. Universal certification and enforcement standards are lacking, corners can be cut, and switching from a conventional to a niche farm can be expensive.
The bottom line is quality. Specialty coffee buyers are not interested if the quality is low.
Yet, while the purchasers and peddlers of the lowest quality canned coffee celebrate the never-ending price downslide, the world’s specialty coffee gurus say there must be a better way. But forging new markets is never easy, and for many, creating specialty niches, such as fair trade, organic, sustainable and even "bird-friendly" coffees can be a complex matter.
The problems are numerous. Universal certification and enforcement standards are lacking, corners can be cut, and switching from a conventional to a niche farm can be expensive.
The bottom line is quality. Specialty coffee buyers are not interested if the quality is low.
Costa Rica Coffee Harvest Workers
The daily La Nación reported Aug. 13 that many of the estimated 170,000 undocumented immigrants in Costa Rica work on farms. The country's coffee harvest alone requires about 200,000 workers. Fewer workers could put farmers in a bind, especially during the peak harvest months of November to April.
Sunday, August 28, 2005
Costa Rica Gourmet Coffee
The first coffee trees were planted in Costa Rica in the late 1770's. Most plantations are situated in the countryside surrounding the capital of San Jose, where the nutrient-rich volcanic soil is well-drained. In this area, the yield of beans per acre is the highest in the world. Coffee beans grown above 3,900 feet are graded as SHB or Strictly Hard Bean. From 3,300 fee to 3,900 feet, the beans are graded GHT, or Good Hard Bean. These distintions are important because the cool air found at higher elevations causes the coffee cherries to ripen more slowely, giving the final brew a rich, hearty flaver that is the hallmark of fine Costa Rican Coffee.
Plentiful season: Coffee shops to be full of beans
Java junkies will have no trouble finding a fix in the coming year, according to a trade association report released Tuesday.
The Association of Coffee Producing Countries, based in London, said 84.50 million bags of coffee are expected to be produced for export in the 12 months ending June 2000. That is 4.8 million bags over expected usage. Each bag is 132 pounds (60 kilograms).
In the event of such an excess, "the potential path for prices would cause many problems for producers," the report said.
The association's report said the surplus can be reduced to 1 million bags if the countries participating in its 1999-2000 export program keep to their total agreed sales limit of 50 million bags.
Participating countries, including Brazil, Colombia, Indonesia, Uganda, Ivory Coast, Ethiopia, El Salvador, Costa Rica, Honduras and Kenya, agreed to the 50 million bag limit at a July meeting in Brazil. Read full artilce.
Monday, August 22, 2005
The Early History of Coffee Beans
Coffee beans were eaten long before they were brewed. Sonce ancient times African tribes had ground the beans, mixed them with animal fat and rolled them into balls. This treat entergixed and noourished both warriors an travelers on long journeys. Coffee as a hot beverage didn't appear in history until A.D. 1000 when Arabs began to boil the beans.
Monday, August 15, 2005
Costa Rican Estate Coffee
One of the finest Costa Rican Estate Coffee coffees from the highly regarded Don Evelio Estates located in the Tarrazu region. 
The farm is located in the high mountains south of the capital of Costar Rica, San Jose.
Tarrazu is a very mountainous terrain formed by volcanoes over the centuries. The rich volcanic soil and high altitude growing conditions is the recipe to this fine gourmet coffee. The farm sits just outside of the city called San Marcos. The entire region is known as "los santos" which means the saints because most to the local towns are all named after patron saints.
We import Tarrazu coffee directly from this estate. We visited the coffee estate and farming operations in June, 2005. The principal farmer, Jorge Uman, is one of the kindest people you will ever meet and is passionate about his coffee operations.
You can buy Costa Rica Coffee from this estate directly from Volcanica Gourmet Coffee.
The farm is located in the high mountains south of the capital of Costar Rica, San Jose.Tarrazu is a very mountainous terrain formed by volcanoes over the centuries. The rich volcanic soil and high altitude growing conditions is the recipe to this fine gourmet coffee. The farm sits just outside of the city called San Marcos. The entire region is known as "los santos" which means the saints because most to the local towns are all named after patron saints.
We import Tarrazu coffee directly from this estate. We visited the coffee estate and farming operations in June, 2005. The principal farmer, Jorge Uman, is one of the kindest people you will ever meet and is passionate about his coffee operations.
You can buy Costa Rica Coffee from this estate directly from Volcanica Gourmet Coffee.
Wednesday, August 10, 2005
Costa Rica Coffees from Tarrazu
The coffee beans from Tarrazu are full bodied, robust and rich, and considered by many connoisseurs to be one of the world's best. Costa Rican coffee is very balanced between acidity and body. They are good stand-alone coffees reliable and delicious. These fine coffee beans are also a wonderful addition to weaker beans from other countries to improve their flavor and price.
Sunday, July 31, 2005
Costa Rica Coffee
Welcome to our new blog where we will be discussing Costa Rica Coffee. This fine gourmet coffee is rich in heritage and has been the life-blood to a large number of Costa Ricans over the past two centuries. Coffee lovers from around the world have already discovered the fine and unique almost buttery flavor produced by this small country.
The reason for its great flavor is the rich volcanic soil that has been erupting across this beautiful Central American country for thousands of years. Costa Rica Gourmet Coffee is full-bodied coffee with a deep, pungent flavor, excellent acidity, and a hint of smokiness. Beans grown in Costa Rica are the result of a unique combination of climate, elevation and soil. Just right - you can taste the special care that goes into every cup.
