Many of our visitors are surprised to discover the complexity and care that we take to harvest and process coffee. It takes hard work, a great deal of time and expert knowledge to turn the fruit of the bush into your favorite beverage. Selva Negra's approach is especially pain-staking in order to protect our reputation for producing one of the world's premier gourmet coffees.
Our coffee tour is on foot (but we'll be happy to arrange a tour by bus if you prefer). It leads through the rows of plantillos (Spanish for coffee bush) to the processing sheds and will put you in the picture about the entire coffee cycle, from seed to cup.
The best time to take the tour is from November to February when the harvest is in full swing. Here are just a few of the highlights:
- Plantillos - Maintaining the plantillos is a constant and endless task. Our tour will show you how we control weeds and pests, make organic compost to fertilize the soil, and nurture the shade trees.
- Picking - The harvest is an exciting time to visit Selva Negra because of the buzz of activity and the anticipation of producing one of the best coffees in the world. Prepared to be amazed by how much work goes into picking each red bean at its height of flavor.
- Coffee Mill - We process our coffee wet in order to wash away impurities, remove the pulp and ferment the beans. Our approach protects the precious gift of water by using as little as of it possible.
- Turning garbage into gold - Discarded coffee pulp, processing water and husks can cause serious damage to the environment. Selva Negra is a world leader in developing innovative ways to turn these potential contaminants into valuable resources. We compost pulp to produce fertilizer, treat the coffee water to produce natural gas, and process the husks to fuel our kitchens.
- Rack drying - Drying is completed at a modern facility in another location, but we use old-fashioned coffee racks to improve the drying process and educate our visitors about the history of the industry.
- Coffee museum - The coffee tour includes a guided presentation in our museum.
- Coffee cupping - Coffee cupping is the practice of sipping brewed coffee to grade its taste and aroma, much as in wine-tasting.
- More - The coffee tour includes information about how we integrate growing coffee under shade with the production of other crops and resources, and insights into the social and economic factors of coffee production.
This tour requires reservations and a minimun of 5 people per tour. Please send us your request to: karen@selvanegra.com.