Coffee

[1bets1]

Hi all...if I buy coffee in PR, and it's in a sealed bag, am I allowed to bring it back on the ship? Also, I'll be doing a self-guided walk- does anyone have a name or address of a place to get a good cup of coffee? Iced coffee is preferred! Thanks.

[crewsweeper]

Sure. I do this at every port where good coffee is to be found.

 

You can buy coffee beans at Café Cola'lo on Pier 2. Several selections of variety and roasts. Finca Cialitos on Calle San Francisco or Cuarto Sombras on Recinto Sur are other good spots to try. Neither are that far from the piers. But there are good coffee shops all over OSJ so enjoy exploring. I think you'll find most coffees sold here are already ground as many customers don't grind their own beans, but always ask if you want whole beans.

[Aviator of the Seas]

Be careful as to what's sold as "Puerto Rican coffee". There are several brands that used to be "Puerto Rican coffee", but due to a farm labor shortage, the crops keep getting smaller, so mass market brands like Café Yaucono, Café Rico and Café Crema are now mixed with coffee from Mexico and what not, and they are no longer the same quality. Same Arabica bean, but not grown on the same soil. The Puerto Rico government now requires that only 100% Puerto Rican coffee be labeled as such, and you'll see the brands mentioned now labeled as "café tipo Puerto Rico" or "Puerto Rico-type coffee". Then there are Café Bustelo and Café Pilón which are sold at the airport misleadingly as Puerto Rican, but they have never been. They are stateside packaged coffee from various sources.

 

If you want to get into real Puerto Rican coffee - and there's a big difference in terms of taste, aroma, acidity, etc. - as the previous poster noted, you need to look into the small specialty brands. I am sorry that as a local I cannot get into more specifics, but if you look around Old San Juan without too much effort, you will find them.

 

Good luck.

[1bets1]

Thanks, this is great!

[slidergirl]

Inside the Sheraton Old San Juan, there is a tiny coffee shop, on the second floor near the Palio restaurant. Coffea Espresso and Brew Bar. The baristas do excellent coffee, using multiple methods. They also have cold coffee. I dropped in there while waiting for my room to be ready. Enjoyed a very nice cuppa. I can not remember if they had bags there. If nothing else, you can walk in there from the pier and have a nice brew.

[sail7seas]

Puerto Ric o is U.S.Bring your coffee onto the ship.

Edited May 31, 2016 by sail7seas

[FRANKM]

Be careful as to what's sold as "Puerto Rican coffee". There are several brands that used to be "Puerto Rican coffee", but due to a farm labor shortage, the crops keep getting smaller, so mass market brands like Café Yaucono, Café Rico and Café Crema are now mixed with coffee from Mexico and what not, and they are no longer the same quality. Same Arabica bean, but not grown on the same soil. The Puerto Rico government now requires that only 100% Puerto Rican coffee be labeled as such, and you'll see the brands mentioned now labeled as "café tipo Puerto Rico" or "Puerto Rico-type coffee". Then there are Café Bustelo and Café Pilón which are sold at the airport misleadingly as Puerto Rican, but they have never been. They are stateside packaged coffee from various sources.

 

If you want to get into real Puerto Rican coffee - and there's a big difference in terms of taste, aroma, acidity, etc. - as the previous poster noted, you need to look into the small specialty brands. I am sorry that as a local I cannot get into more specifics, but if you look around Old San Juan without too much effort, you will find them.

 

Good luck.

 

How does Café Lareno, Alto Grande and Café Mami fit into the

mix?

 

Thanks

[crewsweeper]

Aviator may chime in but I believe Café Lareno is in the western part of PR over by San Sebastian. I don't know of a shop in San Juan, but it's a small roaster so maybe some places or local mercados carry it. I think

Alto Grande is only sold via mail order, but the place you order from is over by the international airport so you might be able to take a taxi there and see if they have a walk in store. Not sure about Café Miami.

[FRANKM]

Aviator may chime in but I believe Café Lareno is in the western part of PR over by San Sebastian. I don't know of a shop in San Juan, but it's a small roaster so maybe some places or local mercados carry it. I think

Alto Grande is only sold via mail order, but the place you order from is over by the international airport so you might be able to take a taxi there and see if they have a walk in store. Not sure about Café Miami.

 

I only order on-line now. I think Café Lareno is produced in Lares which is

near San Sabastian. I usually order Yaucono but I have noticed

a taste difference. Alto Grande is expensive but good. It's now available

in pods for the Nespresso machine. I used to order Crema, but something

is definitely off with it.

 

Years ago before on-line availability, when visiting family in PR, I used

to buy 10 bags to bring home. Always got some funny looks from the people

at the local XTRA.

 

Just wondering what Aviator thinks. He's so helpful to these boards.

 

Thanks for your input.

[Aviator of the Seas]

I only order on-line now. I think Café Lareno is produced in Lares which is

near San Sabastian. I usually order Yaucono but I have noticed

a taste difference. Alto Grande is expensive but good. It's now available

in pods for the Nespresso machine. I used to order Crema, but something

is definitely off with it.

 

Years ago before on-line availability, when visiting family in PR, I used

to buy 10 bags to bring home. Always got some funny looks from the people

at the local XTRA.

 

Just wondering what Aviator thinks. He's so helpful to these boards.

 

Thanks for your input.

 

Don't know about Café Lareño. Café Mami is 100% Puerto Rican, although I have never tried it.

[Aviator of the Seas]

Here's the facebook page of an organization dedicated to 100% Puerto Rican coffee. In there you should find all the brands you may want. It's in Spanish, though.

 

https://www.facebook.com/salvemoselcafe/?fref=ts

[FRANKM]

Thanks.

[Aviator of the Seas]

https://foursquare.com/top-places/san-jaun/best-places-coffee

[Stinger-pr]

Unfortunately most of the mainstream coffee brands available in the San Juan Metro area and surrounding municipalities are not 100% local coffee anymore. Most have coffee beans imported from places like the Dominican Republic and as far away as Central America. So much, that there is currently legislation on the table to heavily tax imported coffee to try and get local producers to reduce (or eliminate) the amount of imported coffee beans they use to produce their coffee. This is why you might be able to taste the difference from coffee today compared to the same brand 5-10 years ago.

 

The best coffee is produce in smaller quantities but are of much better quality. Most of these brand you can find in mountain towns or outside the metro area. I like coffee and I stay away from almost all mainstream ones. Besides, going to the country to get coffee makes for a perfect excuse for a road trip!!:D

[Aviator of the Seas]

I must confess. When I can't find my favorite coffee, Cuatro Sombras, I just get Gevalia French Roast Dark. :p

Edited June 24, 2016 by Aviator of the Seas

[Stinger-pr]

I must confess. When I can't find my favorite coffee, Cuatro Sombras, I just get Gevalia French Roast Dark. :p

Dude, how could you?? LOL:p I have been buying from a Hacienda near the Cemí monument in Jayuya for a few years now. They have a ranch-turned-shop set up where you can choose from 3 premium roast (anywhere from $7-something to $9-someting a pound) to their "mainstream" coffee for under $4 a pound. The "mainstream" roast can only be found in towns near the central/west of the island but I have since found it in Arecibo and since I drive there at least once a week, I always have some stocked. The premium roasts I get on my road trips since the only sell them at the hacienda, over the internet and for export.

Edited June 27, 2016 by Stinger-pr

[FRANKM]

Dude, how could you?? LOL:p I have been buying from a Hacienda near the Cemí monument in Jayuya for a few years now. They have a ranch-turned-shop set up where you can choose from 3 premium roast (anywhere from $7-something to $9-someting a pound) to their "mainstream" coffee for under $4 a pound. The "mainstream" roast can only be found in towns near the central/west of the island but I have since found it in Arecibo and since I drive there at least once a week, I always have some stocked. The premium roasts I get on my road trips since the only sell them at the hacienda, over the internet and for export.

 

Hacienda San Pedro??

[Stinger-pr]

Hacienda San Pedro??

That's the one! Their mainstream brand is Cafe La Finca.

[amp0289]

I hate to resurrect and old thread, but thinking it might be better than starting a new one, since this is the information i'm looking for!

 

I'm going to PR next week on an RC cruise. We have a family near my home who was displaced from their home in PR after the hurricanes, and is now living in New York -- my office has 'adopted' them for Christmas so we can give them some things they need since they brought almost nothing with them. They said they are missing the coffee from home, so I'm hoping I can pick some up during our cruise next week to bring back to them, but I want to make sure it's the good stuff! Any updated suggestions on where to get packaged coffee in Old San Juan?

[mollyeilis]

Amp.....That’s a funny question for me to come across. Because coffee is something that is currently considered a luxury, and so it’s not being provided in care packages, not being stocked in stores all over, and many people don’t have it. An online friend who lives in PR...not in SJ but not in the worst of it (she got power back about a week ago) said that the coffee plants were part of the devastation.

 

So I’m not sure they’ll have homegrown coffee right now.

 

AND the group she and I are a part of is actually doing a drive with one of the good charities for PR to actually SEND coffee to PR. She is so excited that the group is doing this. And she said that El Bustelo is a fave in PR, and that can be purchased all over the mainland. :)

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

[cath32]

Try the Don Ruiz coffee shop near El Morro.

 

My hubby and son love the coffee there (I'm not a coffee drinker), and my son bought pre-packaged coffee beans last time we were there. That was pre-hurricane though....so not sure of the current state of the coffee shop.