This weekend was the 37th Annual Fiesta del Acabe del Café or the Festival of the Coffee ‘End’ (Harvest) in Maricao, PR and our friends Ben and Missy invited us to go with them there on Sunday.
Britton and I have been to quite a few festivals around the island, but this one was by far the biggest. There were lots of venders of all sorts, live music and nice people.
One of the coffee vender displays
There was also lots and lot of Puerto Rican coffee. We love the coffee here. In the mountainous areas where it is slightly cooler like in Maricao, coffee grows extremely well and with a great flavor. You won’t see Starbucks any time soon here! This stuff is the real, local deal!
Coffee berries in various states of ripeness
We walked around and checked out most of the booths and had a little of the carnival style food and drink.
Enjoying some chicken pinchos and fresh-squeezed Maricao orange juice with our friends
An agricultural display showing various coffee varieties
As we were walking around we even stopped to enjoy an impromptu group of drummers, singing and swaying to the beats. It was pretty cool.
This is Lester from facebook.
You know something? In all my years living there you have been to so many places and activities I never got to do.
Just wanted to tell you regarding coffee (in case you din´t know) that Puerto Rico indeed has one of the best coffees in the world. In fact, the Pope himself used to only drink coffee from Puerto Rico.
PR stopped producing it for the most part, as what happened to agriculture in general, they´ve left it behind in favor of stores and medical and engineering businesses.
But you´re also right regarding coffee as the real deal. In Europe is the same. The do have Starbucks as well but they´lle tell you that now real coffee.
…and I´m not a coffee guy but also loved the coffee from Starbucks. Go figure!
The US did not only invaded us but stole our agriculture business. Stay at Starbuck!!
Hey! Love your blog and reading about all that you guys are growing and raising! We went to the festival on Saturday and were pleasantly surprised by everything there. And the ride from isabela to maricao was beautiful! Question: where did you guys get your chickens? Thanks and can’t wait to see what you guys are up to next! Buen Dia!