¡Vámonos a Costa Rica!

Let's go to Costa Rica!

When I started this journal over six years ago, I tried to promote the idea of a group coffee tour to Costa Rica. I gave up on the group idea after a few weeks, but I didn't give up on going to Costa Rica.

Finally, my dream to go to Costa Rica will be realized when I take my family in a few weeks. The country has so much geographical and ecological variety it is difficult to believe it is smaller than West Virginia. The people are friendly to North Americans, the water is safe to drink, the government is stable and peaceful, they grow great coffee, and the weather is high 50's to low 80's.

If you have any suggestions on "must see" places, especially coffee related, please post them in the "comments" section. We have booked a tour to Café Britt, but we welcome your ideas. I will take tons of photos that I get to bore everyone with after the trip, so stay tuned.

For more info on Costa Rica, visit Costa Rica Links.

¡Pura Vida!

Robert

More cafes, varieties boost U.S. coffee roastings

By Susan Buchanan
Of DOW JONES NEWSWIRES

NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- U.S. coffee companies are roasting beans at the strongest pace in over 30 years, reversing an earlier downtrend, as consumers lap up gourmet java and try new products and origins, according to industry members.

American adults now drink almost as much coffee as soft drinks, for the first time since 1990, the National Coffee Association says.
Roastings nationally reached 19.535 million, 60-kilogram bags in 2005, according to Coffee Publications Inc. in New York, and should exceed that level in 2006 - possibly by 5%. Those widely watched numbers cover most, but not all American roastings.

Hernando de la Roche, managing director of Hencorp Coffee in Miami, says a buoyant U.S. cafe culture - with shops owned by Starbucks and other chains popping up on nearly every city corner - has spurred young adults to drink java, while new offerings on supermarket shelves have also lifted demand.

"The coffee-shop phenomenon has exposed a broader base of consumers" to the brew, said Lars Atorf, spokesman for Procter & Gamble (PG), maker of Folgers. "Coffee's become more popular among younger adults - a group that in the last 10 to 20 years was trending towards sodas and other beverages."

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Brazil's 2008 Coffee Crop May Slump

Brazil's 2008 Coffee Crop May Slump, Osorio Forecasts (Update3)

By Claire Leow

Dec. 5 (Bloomberg) -- The coffee crop in Brazil, the world's largest producer of the bean, may slump by as much as 20 percent in 2008 because of dry weather, the head of the International Coffee Organization says.

"Brazil enters now into a year of low production," Nestor Osorio, the group's executive director, said today. ``There have been problems with the weather and the rains. One thing is for sure: It will be lower than 40 million bags. It will be a tight situation with the market.''

The prices of coffee, which is traded in millions of 60- kilogram bags, have been rising on surging global demand. Arabica beans have gained 16 percent this year, while bitter- tasting Robusta beans have jumped 20 percent. Global coffee output varies between 105 million and 120 million bags a year.

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