Costa Rica: Coffee, Chocolate & Cooking Tour with Tastings

4.97

(140 reviews)

What’s the experience like?

I didn’t expect to laugh so much with strangers over coffee beans. We met Tío Leo just outside Liberia — he waved us in with this huge grin, and I swear you could smell roasted coffee before we even stepped inside. The place felt more like someone’s backyard than a “tour,” which threw me off at first (in a good way). Our local guide started with stories about how his family got into coffee — something about his grandfather’s stubbornness and rainy seasons that made everyone nod along. I kept glancing at the old wooden grinder by the door; it looked like it had seen a hundred years of mornings.

We walked through the coffee plants while the sun ducked behind clouds, and I tried to remember all the steps from green berry to cup. Spoiler: I failed. But I did get to roast my own little batch, which is way harder than it looks — mine came out uneven and our guide teased me for it (“artisan style,” he said). The best part? Sipping that fresh coffee right there, still warm from roasting. There was this earthy smell everywhere, mixed with something sweet from the chocolate side of things. We crushed cocoa beans by hand — messy, but oddly satisfying — and tasted chocolate that was nothing like what you buy at home.

The cooking class part surprised me most. Empanada dough sticks to your fingers if you’re too impatient (guilty), but somehow they turned out edible. Everyone shared bites and swapped stories — one woman tried to say “empanada” in Spanish and we all cracked up, including Tío Leo’s niece who was helping out. Afterward came sugarcane: they showed us how to grind it old-school style, then handed out glasses of juice so sweet it almost hurt my teeth. There was music playing somewhere in the background; honestly, I still think about that view across the fields while sipping sugarcane water.