Costa Rica is known for its beautiful scenery and renowned high-quality Arabica coffee, often called the "grano de oro" (golden bean). Coffee isn’t just a drink here, it’s a cultural cornerstone shaped by geography, tradition, and sustainability. So if you are a coffee lover and looking to visit Costa Rica then here is the ultimate guide to the best coffee tours in Costa Rica.
Top Coffee Regions to Visit
Each coffee growing region in Costa Rica has its own personality and flavor profile. Choosing where to tour can shape your entire experience. Below are some of the best coffee growing regions and recommended tours.
📍Central Valley
The Central Valley is at the heart of Costa Rica’s coffee history which includes San José, Heredia, and Alajuela. Many classic plantations are located here, offering educational tours that explain traditional and modern processing methods. This region is ideal for growing coffee due to the volcanic soils and altitude, producing coffee with a rich aroma and chocolatey sweetness.
☕ Recommended Coffee Tours in Central Valley
Britt Coffee Tour
Café Britt, based in Mercedes Norte in Heredia Province, is widely known for pioneering Costa Rica’s original coffee tour. Visitors can explore dramatic green landscapes, visit coffee nurseries and plantations, and witness the roasting and cupping processes up close.
Doka Estate Coffee Tour & Plantation
Nestled on the fertile slopes of the Poás Volcano in Alajuela, the Doka Estate Coffee Tour is one of Costa Rica’s most beloved coffee experiences. This historic plantation has been cultivating, harvesting, and processing coffee for generations, and offers visitors an immersive look into how one of the country’s most iconic exports goes from bean to cup. The tour offers offers a perfect blend of culture, history, and taste, excellent for coffee lovers, curious travelers and families.
Hacienda Alsacia Starbucks Coffee Farm
One of the most unique coffee tours in Costa Rica is Hacienda Alsacia, the only coffee farm in the world owned and operated by Starbucks. This working farm, research center, and visitor destination lies on the lush slopes of the Poás Volcano in Sabanilla, Alajuela. The tour at Hacienda Alsacia offers a deeper understanding of coffee’s journey beyond the cup, mixing scientific innovation, responsible farming, and cultural insight.
📍Monteverde
Monteverde’s cloud forests create a unique microclimate giving the coffee here a complex flavour. Monteverde combines eco-tourism with coffee tourism, offering tours that integrate coffee cultivation, processing, and tasting with nature walks and cultural experiences.
☕️ Recommended Coffee Tours in Monteverde
Don Juan Coffee Tour
One of the most authentic and comprehensive coffee tour experiences around Monteverde, Don Juan coffee tour gives you an insight into how coffee is grown, processed, roasted, and served, all guided by experts with local family history and traditional techniques. The tour usually includes tastings and stories about Costa Rican coffee heritage.
El Pueblo Coffee Tour
Highly rated small‑group tour focused on coffee from plant to cup with an intimate, artisanal feel. Often praised for authentic insights into traditional coffee methods in the Monteverde area.
El Trapiche Tour
A fun, family‑friendly farm tour blending coffee with sugar cane and chocolate. You’ll walk through coffee plantations, see drying and processing areas, ride in a traditional ox‑cart, and enjoy tastings. Great for a cultural and interactive experience.
📍Tarrazú
Often considered Costa Rica’s most prestigious coffee region, Tarrazú produces high-altitude beans prized worldwide. Tours here dive deep into tasting techniques and bean grading. The region is home to CoopeTarrazú, one of Costa Rica’s largest coffee cooperatives, and a community of thousands of smallholder farmers.
☕️ Recommended Coffee Tours in Tarrazú
Tour de café Tierra Amiga
A highly rated organic and hands‑on coffee tour in San Marcos de Tarrazú where you’ll walk through shaded coffee plantations, learn how coffee cherries are picked and roasted traditionally, and taste the coffee you help process. It focuses on sustainable agriculture and rural life in Tarrazú.
Coopedota Coffee Tour (Los Santos/Tarrazú area)
In the broader Los Santos zone (which includes much of the Tarrazú region), CoopeDota and other cooperatives run tours through their facilities and plantations, showing processing from reception of beans to roasting and packaging, often paired with cupping sessions to compare flavors.
Local Artisan & Farm Tours
Outside of organized tours, many smaller farms and community projects around Tarrazú offer authentic, family‑run coffee experiences. These focus on traditional farming methods and personal interaction with producers.
📍Guanacaste
Though better known for beaches, Guanacaste’s coffee farms offer a more relaxed, less-crowded tour experience. The coffee here grows mostly at 500–800 meters (1,640–2,625 ft) above sea level, lower than Tarrazú or Monteverde, giving it a distinct flavor profile.
☕️ Recommended Coffee Tours in Guanacaste
Diria Coffee Tour
A popular, authentic plantation and processing tour in Hojancha. Here you’ll learn how coffee is grown and processed by a local cooperative and taste locally produced brews. This kind of experience gives insight into small‑scale farming and traditional Costa Rican coffee culture.
Ticoffia Cafe de Guanacaste Coffee Tour
A full‑day culturally rich coffee tour that visits family farms in the Nicoya Peninsula. You’ll meet small‑family coffee producers, walk coffee plantations, learn about growing/harvesting, visit a local cooperative and enjoy tastings plus traditional breakfast and lunch.
Carrillo Coffee Tour
A half‑day coffee tour departing from Samara or Carrillo beaches that takes you into the heart of Guanacaste coffee country. You’ll learn the coffee production process, see sustainable farming methods, and enjoy guided coffee tastings with local commentary.
.avif)
.avif)
.jpg)