Gastronomy

Coffee Haciendas for Connoisseurs

How we drink coffee in Puerto Rico:
Café expreso (from the Italian ‘espresso') denotes both a preparation process and when prepared correctly, a particular grind of coffee. Using an espresso machine, hot (but not boiling) water is streamed under very high-pressure through extremely-finely ground coffee to create a potent and highly-flavorable brew. Purists insist upon drinking it black. In Puerto Rico, an expreso is also referred to as a ‘pocillo' referring to the tiny cup in which it is served.

Cortadito (from the Spanish, meaning ‘slightly cut') is the name given to a serving of café expreso laced with a few drops of hot milk.

Café con leche refers to traditionally-brewed black coffee to which steamed milk has been added before serving. Similar to the French café au lait, café con leche is served in a full-sized cup. In more traditional settings, the coffee is brewed using a coffee ‘sock', although the practice is rapidly becoming obsolete.

Have a cup of coffee! For a great coffee experience visit:

Puerto Rico's Café Colao	Old San Juan	787-725-4139
Barista Espresso Bar	Hato Rey	787-282-0699
Café de las Historias	Arecibo	787-880-3476
Café Café Restaurante	Ponce	787-841-7185
Cafeto	Caguas	787-914-2726

Our history with coffee
Among the many legends regarding the origin of coffee, perhaps the most reliable is the tale of Kaldhi the shepherd. It is said that sometime during the 14th century, while quietly tending to his goats in the countryside of Ethiopia (most likely in the region of Kaffa), he saw his herd was behaving peculiarly, after having ingested the fruit and leaves of a nearby bush. Kaldhi noticed the plant bore fruit resembling grapes-and decided to try them. Upon sampling the fruit, the shepherd felt suddenly energized and quickly rode to transport both the fruit and the branches of this strange new plant to the local mosque.

Centuries later, in the year 1736, the first coffee plant was transported from Africa to Puerto Rico, probably during one of the frequent slave trade voyages of the day. Mountain-dwelling farmers, and in particular, Corsican immigrants, during the 19th century, helped found the basis of what would soon become a lucrative and presitigious coffee aristocracy in Puerto Rico, producing what many connoissseurs consider to be the finest coffee in the world. Due to its distinctive taste and incomparable aroma, Puerto Rican coffee was lauded in Spain, France, Italy, and Germany, swiftly becoming the favored beverage of kings, popes, and the literary élite.

An age-old Arabian proverb instructs us that coffee must be 'as black as the devil, as hot as the underworld, as sweet as love itself, and as pure as an angel.' One can only wonder if that same nameless Arabic scribe had first tasted Puerto Rican coffee before penning that verse.

Today the Puerto Rican coffee industry boasts over 50 million dollars in annual sales. The industry employs over a quarter of a million inhabitants in 21 towns across the island.

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