What is Puerto Rican Coffee, How to Brew Puerto Rican Coffee? Puerto Rican Coffee Flavors

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The Rich History of Puerto Rican Coffee

Puerto Rico has a coffee production history of nearly three hundred years and was once one of the largest producing regions in the world. According to Starbucks' website, in 1736, Spanish explorers brought coffee from the plantations of France's Louis XIV to the island. The reputation of Yaucono Selecto was once comparable to Hawaii's Kona and Jamaica's Blue Mountain, and it was also the favorite of European royal courts and the Vatican. Until the nineteenth century, coffee houses in Vienna, Paris, and Madrid exclusively served it.

The Decline of Coffee in Puerto Rico

What caused the decline of coffee in Puerto Rico? Puerto Rico has frequently appeared in the news recently because its government has been burdened by a debt of up to $70 billion for many years, officially beginning to default this August. Its predicament originated from the Spanish-American War in 1898, when Spain ceded Puerto Rico to the United States, making it a US commonwealth in the Caribbean. Unlike the 50 states, it cannot enjoy some federal government benefits but must comply with various regulations. Puerto Rico has held four referendums, with the last one in 2012 where 61% of citizens favored becoming the 51st state of the United States, but congressional approval remains uncertain. After the territorial government defaults, it cannot receive bankruptcy law protection, earning it the nickname "America's Greece" due to similar financial situations and political relationships with the US and EU.

The decline of Puerto Rico's coffee industry is closely related to its economic and political predicament. During the Spanish-American War, the United States had already established strong and lasting coffee trade agreements with the coffee giant Brazil, and did not give much consideration to the newly acquired Puerto Rico. Moreover, US economic interests in the Caribbean were mainly concentrated in the sugar industry, which led to the flourishing of local sugarcane production, making it impossible for small-scale coffee farmers to compete. Surviving coffee companies had to repeatedly merge to preserve their strength. It is said that the quality of local varieties was also affected as a result.

Today, Puerto Rico's coffee production cannot even meet domestic demand and requires importing raw beans for roasting. Therefore, the coffee we eagerly purchase may contain uncertain amounts of beans actually harvested on the island.

However, the coffee shortage on the island is not entirely due to reduced production. Because of closer ties with the United States, few locals are willing to engage in coffee picking. According to records, a quarter of the coffee on the trees is wasted each year due to lack of harvesting, because those coffee farmers have gone to work in the mainland United States. Those who remain, due to minimum wage laws, government subsidies, and other social welfare benefits, are unwilling to do the work of bending over on steep slopes under the scorching sun all day. According to the latest statistics, today the island has approximately 3.9 million residents, while the Puerto Rican population in the mainland United States reaches 4.2 million. No wonder the territorial government is currently considering using prisoners to pick coffee beans. However, no one knows how effective these prisoners, who would rather stay in air-conditioned cells, would be.

Compared to the entire Latin America, Puerto Rico is the region with the highest per capita GDP; but compared to the mainland, it is lower than even the poorest state of Mississippi, with 41% of people living below the poverty line. However, if it imports labor from other regions, it needs to pay minimum federal wages and basic health insurance, and comply with stricter environmental policies. This way, it loses competitiveness compared to surrounding countries like the Dominican Republic, Jamaica, and Cuba.

Yauco: The Jewel of Puerto Rican Coffee

Puerto Rico's Yauco and Jamaica are both part of the Greater Antilles, located in the Atlantic of Central America, and are renowned island coffee-producing countries. Puerto Rican coffee has a history of over two hundred years. Coffee cultivation began in 1736, but initially coffee was not the main economic crop here, with sugar being the primary crop. Around 1800, due to unrest in Europe, residents of the French Mediterranean island of Corsica migrated to Puerto Rico. At that time, the valley lands were already occupied by Spanish immigrants, so they chose to settle in the southwestern mountainous region of the island, near Yauco city. To survive, they began planting different crops, and coffee cultivation brought them good income. By 1860, the coffee industry had become the main export economic crop locally. Yauco was also a well-known coffee in early Taiwan, but has become quite rare in recent years due to a shift toward domestic market orientation.

Yauco Selecto coffee is produced exclusively from three coffee farms in southwestern Puerto Rico. These three farms have excellent geographical locations with superior natural environments suitable for coffee growth, where coffee is carefully cultivated. The processing is meticulous, and Yauco Selecto coffee beans are even stored in their parchment form until shipment to maximize the preservation of coffee flavor.

Yauco Selecto coffee production is extremely low, accounting for only about 1% of Puerto Rico's total coffee production. Coupled with relatively expensive labor costs, the price of Yauco Selecto has always been staggeringly high.

Yauco Selecto is revered not just for its low production, high costs, and superior growing environment. After all, coffee ultimately depends on its flavor performance. Yauco Selecto coffee's flavor is equally distinctive!

It has a rich aroma with the sweet fragrance of tropical fruits that refreshes the soul. The rising aroma seems to envelop a bountiful fruit basket - just smelling it makes you feel completely one with the coffee.

The fruity aroma blends with the fruit flavors in the taste, bringing intense fruitiness and bright acidity. Yauco Selecto coffee has almost no bitterness (or perhaps the intense fruit aroma and acidity mask the bitterness), with a very pure and bright taste. Just a light sip can eliminate all worries and unhappiness from your heart, making your mood become as clear and fresh as the sky after rain.

Brewing Recommendations

FrontStreet Coffee suggests brewing parameters for Puerto Rican coffee:

V60/90°C/1:15/time: 2 minutes

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