Cafe Gran Batey, Utuado

It was my pleasure to visit this family-owned coffee farm. Bernardo Morales and his wife Lotty are an extremely hospitable couple, they demonstrated the process of harvesting coffee, and we had a nice talk with them. I also had a chance to observe the plantation; where coffee bushes grow between the trees of oranges. Shade-grown coffee is better for the ecosystem. I'm glad I have an opportunity to support this small eco-friendly business.

A lovely older couple run the hacienda. The husband speaks a good amount of English and the wife is very sweet and gives a very informative tour, but speaks primarily in Spanish. To get the most out of your tour here, I highly recommend a thorough command of Spanish or having someone with you who can translate. Even without that though, this would be a great experience. They show you the roasting process and then make you coffee and feed you cake. Then you get to walk around, look at the coffee plants, learn about their organic and sustainable farming practices, learn about the machinery used to process the coffee, and basically see a coffee bean go from start to finish. Make sure to call several days in advance to plan a visit!