Five Coffee Places To Visit In Puerto Rico: How Exported Coffee From Puerto Rico Suffered Under US Tariffs

Five Places to try Puerto Rican coffee in Puerto Rico: From historic coffee farms in the mountains to coffee shops in Old San Juan.

In the cool mountain regions of Puerto Rico, where the fog consumes the dense tropical flora, haciendas can still be found participating in a nearly 300-year-old process that was once the island’s chief export in the late 19th century: Puerto Rican coffee. Most coffee drinkers, including the people who pick it, in Puerto Rico have never tried 100% Puerto Rican coffee.

Spain invested a lot of money into the exportation of Puerto Rican coffee. Even going so far as to providing the Vatican with Puerto Rican coffee until the Vatican got so hooked on the revered Cafe Rico brand (founded in 1924) it became the only government to directly purchase their caffeine fix from Puerto Rico. “In 1896, about 77 percent of Puerto Rico’s exports was coffee.” When the island was occupied by the United States and included in the U.S. tariff system, exporting became too expensive. The U.S. wanted to focus on sugar. And focus on sugar they did. By 1930, coffee represented less than one percent of the island's exports. One hundred years later, they find themselves in a similar situation.

Smaller and lesser known brands and large corporate brands have both faced the same two major issues when it comes to coffee production in Puerto Rico; labor and climate. And now tariffs. The Canadian government Uno reversed with 25% arbitration on $30 billion worth of U.S. goods, including exports from Puerto Rico. Canada is one of Puerto Rico's main trading partners with 17.2% of total Puerto Rican exports, followed by Mexico (15.7%) and China (7.5%). Canada does more business with Puerto Rico than with the rest of the Caribbean combined.

And still the ceremonial ritual of coffee is alive and well in Puerto Rico. I refuse to start my day without a cup of coffee, even when I’m suffering in the suppressive humidity and heat of my mother’s motherland. When I’m in Puerto Rico, I wake up early in the morning while the house, the neighborhood, the city is still quiet. I crank the glass jalousies and invite the cool steady breeze in. I do not invite the iguana in that holds the porch hostage. I pour bottled water into a pot, boil and pour over the coffee grounds - letting the bloom fill the kitchen. Finish by adding a splash of canned evaporated milk for me. Light and sweet for Mami. A form of meditation; a moment to restart my energy and ease into a new day. A little nibble of cheese, some crackers or bread, a cafecito and a whispering kiki behind the balustrade.

I’ll tell you where you can cut out a little piece of this cafecito ritual for yourself, where to visit a piece of history and indulge in a little forty weight created for our palates to partake in jollity. Indulge yourself in a little cafecito.