Boutique Coffee Coffee from Puerto Rico

In 1736, coffee trees were introduced from Martinique to Puertp Rico. Most of the early coffee was grown by immigrants from Corsica. By 1896, Puerto Rico was the sixth largest exporter of coffee in the world, with most coffee shipped to France, Italy, Spain and Cuba. Coffee farms flourished in the 19th century, but the rise of sugarcane and drug farming as well as the impact of hurricanes and wars made the coffee industry lag behind and is now recovering.

Coffee tree

Coffee tree

Puerto Rico has a low-wage system, with a per capita hourly wage of $4.20 in 1991. Still, manual workers earn more than workers in many other coffee-producing countries, as long as Hawaii and Yamaja are on a par. Another problem facing the Puerto Rican coffee industry is that Puerto Ricans have better employment prospects because of their relatively high cultural quality in the Caribbean. Yaocote's choice of coffee, which is grown only on three farms in the southwest of the island, is fragrant and has a long aftertaste. This kind of coffee is very expensive and its flavor is comparable to that of any other coffee variety in the world. In the Yauco area, the coffee is owned and operated by local plantation owners. The mountain climate here is mild, the plants have a long mature period (from October to February), and the soil is of high quality clay. Some old varieties of Arabica coffee beans are grown here, although the yield is lower than other varieties, but generally of high quality. People here have been using an ecological and intensive planting method, using only some low-toxic fertilizers and chemicals, and adopting mixed crop planting measures to make the soil more fertile. When it comes time to pick coffee beans, people walk back and forth between coffee trees, picking only fully ripe coffee beans, and then wash them in a roller device for 48 hours.

Today, Puerto Rican gourmet coffee has been exported to the United States, France and Japan. Coffee in this country is generally carefully cultivated, with pure taste, aroma and heavy granules, among which the best is among the world's famous brands. The best coffee is Yauco Selecto, which means "Selecto". Grand Lares Yauco is produced in the southwest of the island, while Lars coffee is produced in the south-central part of the island.

Yaocote's choice of coffee, which is grown only on three farms in the southwest of the island, is fragrant and has a long aftertaste. This kind of coffee is very expensive and its flavor is comparable to that of any other coffee variety in the world. In the Yauco area, the coffee is owned and operated by local planters. The mountain climate here is mild, the plants have a long mature period (from October to February), and the soil is of high quality clay. Some old varieties of Arabica coffee beans are grown here, although the yield is lower than other varieties, but generally of high quality. People here have been using an ecological and intensive planting method, using only some low-toxic fertilizers and chemicals, and adopting mixed crop planting measures to make the soil more fertile. When it comes time to pick coffee beans, people walk back and forth between coffee trees, picking only fully ripe coffee beans, and then wash them in a roller device for 48 hours.

Yaocote chooses coffee beans to be kept in shells before they are shipped and the skins are not removed until the order is shipped to ensure the best freshness of the coffee. Relevant U.S. government staff, such as FDA and USEA, will also be present when the goods are submitted, and they work to monitor producers' compliance with federal regulations. There are also staff from the local evaluation board, who take 1 bag out of every 50 bags as samples and use international gauges to evaluate their quality.

Escoquito? Jaime Fortu Fortuno, the president of Escogido Yauco's agency, pays silent attention to all this work, even the smallest details, every year. Fortuno is an investment banker who graduated from Harvard Business School. He was determined to seize every opportunity to open up a top coffee market in Puerto Rico. He expects a maximum annual output of 3000 bags of 45kg each, less than 1 per cent of the island's total coffee production.