Excursion au Doka Coffee, visite de Grecia et Sarchi, au départ de San José

The Doka coffee tour was amazing. Definitely buy some while there. I had a hard time finding it after I left the plantation. As I wanted to try other coffee's before making a purchase. But it was one of the best and Its slightly cheaper in the tour. We thankfully escaped most of the rain that day.Our tour guide was very amicable and spoke English pretty well. We got a nice breakfast. Got to see the coffee plantations, learn about Costa Rica resources and how coffee is exported. Grecia and Sarchi was beautiful and so colorful. I had a great time at the Ox Cart factory and wish we could've had more time there. One thing to note, is we tend to get stuck in traffic throughout our entire trip in Costa Rica so try and be patient. We brought games to play while on our car rides in order to pass the time more enjoyably.

This was an exceptional tour! We got to go into the Doka Coffee Plantation, saw how they process the coffee beans and prepare it for shipping, got to see the roasted and freshly ground coffees, then off to Grecia-unforgettable! We finished the tour with Sarchi which I considered a must see and do if ever in Costa Rica! Good job!

Tour description is a little misleading. Dora tour example: see workers cultivating and roasting coffee beans. I saw workers cleaning evestroughs of dead leaves and bored sales clerks in the gift shop. Grecia example: Have a walk around town and snap some photos to remember the unusual architectural sights. We were given 15 minutes to look at the metal church. Not sure what other architectural sights in Grecia there are. I only had 15 min and a church. Sarchi was totally unguided, was left to wander around in a working wood shop with various saw blades and uneven surfaces and layers of sawdust alone while i mangled conversations with people working. Seemed to be more of a production facility for the various knick backs and Asian made tourist souvenirs you see in numerous shops. I did buy 2 hand painted trays. Tour guide tho was fantastic and engaging. Tour group was a bit odd. Too bad you can't vette the people who buy these tours. I think I spent the day with a drug mule from the Bronx.

The tour is relatively uneventful. There's limited commentary throughout the excursion aside from the coffee plant, information was scant and limited. Not sure if this was the tour company or the destination that led to this relatively disappointing tour.

I am writing this review quite a bit after we took this tour you will understand why at the end. I love coffee, and we heard good things about this tour, so we decided to go. The tour was extremely informative, with a history of the estate itself and how the coffee is raised and harvested. After the tour, we were given a chance to taste and buy some coffee from the estate. The premier coffee from the estate is Peaberry AA. I've had other really good Peaberrys from other parts of the world that I really did not like very much. With that in mind, I didn't really expect much from this coffee either. SURPRISE!! This is one of the best coffees I've ever had the pleasure of enjoying! We bought several bags to take home, and I enjoyed it all summer long. Unfortunately, I ran out at the beginning of the November, and I thought I would have to wait until next year. Then, by a fortunate turn of events, we were able to come down again in early December. I contacted the estate and asked if I could purchase coffee without buying a tour. They responded that not only could I buy coffee, they would deliver it to me at my hotel in San Jose' right after roasting was completed in the morning. I placed a large order, including bags for my friends whom I introduced to this coffee over the summer. Come 9 am on Saturday morning before we headed down to Domincal, Mario showed up with the delivery! He told us if we needed anything, or ran into any difficulties, we could call him on his cell phone and he'd be happy to give us hand. This is why we love coming to Costa Rica. The people are so friendly and helpful. Doka offers more than just Peaberry, they also offer a breakfast blend, french roast, italiano espresso roast, and decaf versions of everything. We brought one suitcase down just to make sure that we had enough room to bring all of our coffee home. see picture below If you love coffee, take the tour and bring your wallet!