Did you know that there’s even a festival dedicated to Puerto Rican coffee? The Maricao Coffee Festival is held every February and celebrates the success Puerto Rican coffee has had over the years. More than just a coffee festival, the event showcases different Puerto Rican food and culture. But it isn’t necessary to get there and try the coffee yourself. You can find some of the best Puerto Rican coffee beans right on our list.
We’ve tried 11 products and compiled a list of the 6 best Puerto Rican coffees. And the Editor’s Choice goes to the Alto Grande Super Premium Coffee Ground. This type of coffee is nourished by rich mountain soils that yield a coffee bean with deep chocolate and roasted nut flavors. And all of the coffees on the list are medium or medium-dark roasts to preserve the delicate flavors.
More features: legendary brand; full body; the sweet aroma
With a long history of producing great Puerto Rican coffee, Alto Grande has sweet undertones of chocolate laced throughout the brew and a sweet pointed aroma. This coffee is made from 100% Arabica beans that have extremely limited availability due to the Arabic tree only producing one pound of beans a year. The company works hard to keep the coffee fresh from roasting until brewing.
What we liked: Alto Grande coffee has a long and positive history of roasting great coffee, and having a great background in coffee roasting helps the company put out an excellent product time and time again.
What could be better: A large amount of coffee could go stale before you get the chance to use it all, but the can is well sealed to keep freshness in.
More features: strong aroma; metalized package for better protection; bold and rich
Based in the mountains of Puerto Rico, Café Oro de Puerto Rico offers up rich, strong flavors and sweet notes that will transport you away from your morning kitchen chair to a whole new world. The whole process, from harvesting the plant to roasting the bean, takes place on the farm in Puerto Rico. By the time it reaches your kitchen to be brewed, the coffee has been put through a rigorous process that brings the best value and flavor to your home.
What we liked: With subtle flavor notes and bold coffee taste, this coffee will wake you up and get you going in no time. The coffee is very affordable and easily available.
What could be better: These come in smaller packages than other types of coffee, only 14-ounce packages, but there are four in a pack so you’ll always have some caffeine on hand.
More features: a selection of the best Puerto Rican coffees
If you’re not quite sure what type of Puerto Rican coffee you want to get, picking up this variety pack will give you four great options to choose from. Each package of this ground coffee is smaller so you can get a good flavor profile of each without having too much to use up. Each bag is made up of 100% Puerto Rican coffee that gives you a beautiful flavor picture of the mountain region where the beans are raised and roasted.
What we liked: Having some variety can give you a fuller picture of what makes up Puerto Rican coffee without having too much leftover.
What could be better: For the smaller packages, the cost is a bit higher for the four-pack. But for the type of specialty coffee that it is offering, the cost is not prohibitive.
More features: balanced acidity; traditional grind
Café Crema is a leader in the coffee market from Puerto Rico. Started in the early 1900s, the coffee pays tribute to nature and one man’s passion. When started by their founder Don Morales, he sold his coffee on the streets of Caguas bag by bag. The coffee has a creamy finish and balanced acidity that takes you back to the streets of a small Puerto Rican town in a simpler time.
What we liked: This set of coffee comes with two, 14-ounce bags which gives you lots of coffee for the price. Another wonderful coffee with a rich history that can transport you to a different time and space.
What could be better: Having two bags of ground coffee may be too much and the coffee may go stale if not stored properly.
More features: family business
While they don’t have as long of a history as other Puerto Rican roasters, Café Lareno has been roasting coffee for several decades and is dedicated to delivering fresh coffee on every order. Comparisons can be drawn to Hawaiian Kona coffee, marking Café Lareno as a heavyweight in the coffee game. With notes of chocolate and coffee with a mild acidity all adds up to a smooth, easy-drinking coffee. So whether this is your first cup or your 1001st cup, this coffee will perform.
What we liked: This package comes with four bags of this freshly roasted coffee straight from the mountains of Puerto Rico. The smooth flavors and lower acidity make this a great coffee for any time of day.
What could be better: While the coffee comes to you fresh from the roaster, having four bags at home gives it the chance to go stale if it’s not stored properly.
More features: exquisite taste; hand-picked beans
Yaucono coffee has a long and storied history. Through ups and downs, the coffee roasters have pushed their art form forward to reach their present product that holds the number one position in Puerto Rico. The coffee comes out well-balanced with subtle flavors that betray the careful preparation and dedicated process that goes into each bag of coffee. Yaucono is a household name in Puerto Rico and is worth a taste test no matter where you live.
What we liked: The subtle flavors and well-balanced profile make for a great cup of coffee that proves time and time again why this brand has come up to be number one in Puerto Rico.
What could be better: It may lose its intense taste overtime if not stored properly.
Puerto Rican coffee is rich in history and flavors with subtle notes of sweet chocolate and caramel. When looking for a great Puerto Rican coffee you want to find something that is fresh and flavorful without being overpowering. Well-balanced coffees work for first-time or experienced coffee drinkers and can offer up a fresh slate for you to build your ideal cup of coffee on. Puerto Rican coffees are rich and sweet and very affordable for anyone anywhere in the world. With a rich history of roasting, the six coffees on this list all have great histories or growing and roasting excellent coffee. Balancing these different aspects of a coffee can lead you to the best type of coffee for your kitchen in no time. Trying different coffee can lead to different types of coffee preparation as well. As you’re buying new types of coffee you may be tempted to pick up a Moka pot as well to prepare your newfound coffee or some milk to steam for a café con leche treat.
Puerto Rican coffee has become a bit rarer these days due to storms, climate, and declining production but the products in this list are easily available and the flavor profiles are still unmatched. Trying Puerto Rican coffee will open up a new world of well-balanced, locally sourced coffee. These coffees stand up on their own with hints of chocolate and caramel in many varieties as well as with add-ins and toppings that only enhance the overall flavor of the coffee.
Buying locally roasted coffee with the same flavor notes and sweetness as any of these Puerto Rican coffees can cost you a pretty penny. Coffee like Yaucono is not just well roasted and fresh but comes to you at a very affordable price for the amount of coffee that you’re getting.
Each cup or bag of coffee has several different factors that work together to create a great cup of coffee that Puerto Rico takes great pride in. When looking for Puerto Rican coffee you’ll want to take into account the type of coffee, the type of roast, the flavor notes, and the weight of the coffee is shipped. Mixing all of these factors and choosing what works well for you and your palate brings you to the perfect cup of Puerto Rican coffee.
There are lots of different types of coffee but the one that stands out in Puerto Rican coffee is Arabica beans. The Arabica bean is rare but coffees like the Alto Grande and the Café Lareno are 100% Arabica beans. These beans give the coffee the smooth, sweeter flavors that mark the Puerto Rican coffees.
Arabica beans are rare because of how few beans are produced from the plants each year, only one pound per year. Most Puerto Rican roasters grow, roast, and ship their beans making it streamlined from one end of the process to the other.
After the beans reach maturity and are picked, they’re taken to the roaster to finish up. Coffee has three main types of roasts: light, medium, and dark. Most Puerto Rican coffees fall under the medium roast category. This allows them to retain their great natural flavors while adding in a few roasting flavor profiles as well. Yaucono and Café Crema are great examples of the Puerto Rican medium roast coffee. While offering up smooth and rich flavors and profiles, they also have a natural bold coffee flavor that is only enhanced by the roasting process. Meanwhile, Café Oro coffee has stronger, more aggressive flavors as it’s been roasted a bit darker overall.
If you’re just getting started with coffee, a medium roast works well with cream or plain and gives you great flavor without being overpowering. If you’re an advanced coffee drinker, these roasts will give you great flavor plain or with cream or milk.
When searching for just the right flavor notes, you want to find something that suits your tastes. But starting in your new coffee adventures with the subtly sweet notes and tastes of chocolate and caramel that can be found in these Puerto Rican coffees. Sampling the different flavors and notes in the Puerto Rican Variety Pack will give you a wide range of pictures of what types of notes are typically found in these delightful coffees. Café Lareno stand-alone coffee bags also offer sweeter flavors that bolster the coffee in general.
While the Yaucono coffee doesn’t have quite the same flavor notes it does offer a smooth coffee that is well-balanced overall. The medium roast brings out the sweet flavors without letting it overpower you. To get these types of flavor notes in a locally roasted brand, you might have to shell out a lot of money.
All of the Puerto Rican coffees listed here are very affordable and arrive fresh at your door. You can get this sweet and smooth coffee almost fresh from almost anywhere including online.
When parsing the type of coffee to get and evaluating the value of Puerto Rican coffee, you need to take into account the weight of the coffee you’ll be ordering. Most coffee comes in either half-pound or one pound packages. In the current coffee market for the type of coffee that Puerto Rico produces, the price is very affordable.
Yaucono coffee comes in at about $8 per pound of coffee which is affordable and still delicious. Alto Grande is a bit more expensive, coming in just half-pound cans at $13 each. The coffee history of Alto Grande goes back to the 1800s and when you buy a can of coffee from the roaster you’re buying not just great coffee but supporting a brand that is working hard to keep the coffee industry going in Puerto Rico.
Variety packs like the Puerto Rican Variety Pack have smaller bags of coffee that are ideal for sampling and the price stays constant giving you a good bang for your buck. The Puerto Rican Variety Pack offers half-pound samples of some of the top Puerto Rican brands including Café Lareno and Café Crema.
Getting out of your typical coffee routine can open up a whole new flavor and cultural world. Finding a great café con leche recipe and new methods of brewing will show you flavor notes that you may have never experienced before.
Puerto Rican coffee has great taste and flavor notes that can transport you away from your kitchen table to the mountains of Puerto Rico. While the flavors can stand on their own, they’re easily enhanced by cream or milk added to your morning coffee. The overall taste profiles of great Puerto Rican coffee remain smooth and slightly sweet. Adding milk or cream to your coffee brings out the sweet notes without destroying the smooth finish of the coffee. The caramel and chocolate notes make this an easy-drinking coffee for the first-time black coffee drinkers or an exceptional experience for advanced coffee drinkers. The taste won’t jump out and attack you but you taste the flavor notes without being overwhelmed. The unique taste of Puerto Rican coffee is derived from the soil and plants that are grown in the mountains there.
Everyone’s coffee tastes differ but Puerto Rican coffee is consistently one of the top coffees in the world with great taste, flavor notes, and a history of excellent roasting.
Alto Grande coffee comes in a convenient size and makes the most of its 100% Arabica beans, delivering a sweet, smooth flavor in every cup. Coming in at a smaller size so you’ll be sure to use it all up before it goes stale, The Alto Grande coffee is our Editors Choice pick for this list. Alto Grande is a great coffee at an excellent price.
The Premium Pick of the list is Café Oro coffee. You get lots of coffee for the price tag that gives you all the great flavor notes and taste that you expect from great Puerto Rican coffees.
The Best Variety on our list goes to the Puerto Rican Coffee Variety Pack where you can get four excellent Puerto Rican Coffees to taste and sample for a great price. Each one stands on its own as one of the best Puerto Rican Coffees in the world but you get to try all of them in one easy to acquire variety pack.
Whether you’re an advanced coffee drinker or it’s your first time experiencing coffee, you can’t go wrong with the best Puerto Rican Coffees offered on our list. With it’s naturally sweet and smooth flavor and taste, budget-friendly options for purchase, and easily palatable medium roast, Puerto Rican Coffee is something everyone should check out at least once in their coffee adventures.
