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Coffee From Puerto Rico

© Katherine Austinson

During the 18th and 19th centuries, Puerto Rican coffee was the talk of the royal courts of Europe. It was the coffee everyone who was anyone drank! Kings and queens, dukes and duchesses made Puerto Rican coffee all the rage! Over the decades, Puerto Rican coffee took a dive - mostly due to huge hurricanes in the late 1800's which all but destroyed the industry there. Now, they've made a comeback!

In the Caribbean islands of Puerto Rico, Jamaica, Haiti & the Dominican Republic, coffee is typically grown at altitudes ranging from 1,000 to 3,500 feet and higher. It is processed by the traditional 24 hour wet fermentation, wash and 5 to 7 day sun drying method. It possesses a characteristic gentle flavor of the region in which they are grown, is softly or agreeably acidic and typically medium to dark roasted to enhance its hint of cocoa like flavor & pleasant palatable after taste, making it a favorite morning and after dinner coffee. Some coffee beans, particularly the peaberry or "Caracolillo" taken from the Spanish word "Caracol," which translates into seashell (the shape of the the single lobed coffee been), is dark roasted to bring out its inner secrets. Jamaica and Puerto Rico have the rich bauxite soil and geographical location suited for coffee growing. This makes Jamaican Blue Mountain & Puerto Rican coffee very similar, in terms of texture, taste & quality. In terms of costs, however, Puerto Rico is the best deal. In the early 20th Century Puerto Rican Coffee was served in official state dinners at the White House, by the devout coffee lover, US President Theodore Roosevelt, who termed it as "Grand."

Back to reclaim their place as one of the world's most sought after coffees, Puerto Rican coffee growers are marketing their beans on the Internet. Find some of the best quality Arabica beans at Puerto Rican roasters. The beans are mountain grown in the shade for fantastic flavor.

The Green Island Coffee Company has online ordering available. They offer Alto Grande coffee, "a Coffee Hacienda deep in the central mountain range of Puerto Rico, continued without interruption, a commitment to grow a unique kind of coffee. Coffee from Latitude 19° North, where nature provides the ideal conditions to grow the world's best coffee; the same fine quality Arabica variety that gained fame in Europe among the connoisseurs of Paris, Madrid, London, Hamburg and Rome." Alto Grande coffee has been around since 1839.