MonteTours Blog

Coffee Tour Monteverde: Compare The Best 3 Coffee Tours

Several local farms offer coffee tours in Monteverde, Costa Rica. If you search the web for “Best Coffee Tour Monteverde,” you come across several ads from marketing agencies, such as TripAdvisor. They display their network’s coffee tours and ratings based on customer reviews. 

However, that information is limited and does very little to help you see the differences between their offering. Furthermore, reading online reviews can take hours, and sometimes they’re biased, which makes it difficult to compare the best coffee tours in Monteverde. 

Since this is one of the most frequently asked questions I get, I dove deep into the topic to help bring light to this question so you can have a more objective view of the manner. 

I went on five coffee tours in Monteverde and cherry-picked my top three options for you. I also analyzed over 500 online customer reviews to add more context and compiled my observations on this article. 

Let’s dive in: 

The following are the best coffee tours in Monteverde, Costa Rica: 

• Don Juan Coffee Tour
• El Trapiche Coffee Tour
• Cafe Monteverde Coffee Tour

Keep scrolling for more information as I break down the pros and cons of each Monteverde Coffee Tour to determine which one is best for you. 

Disclaimer: I’m not too fond of ads on educational pages like this one because it ruins the reader experience. Therefore, I keep my website ad-free. However, I still need a way to make a living. Thus, this article contains affiliate links to book tours, from which I earn a small commission at no additional cost to you. After reading this post, if you decide to book a tour, please consider using the links on this post so that I can continue sharing unbiased, helpful information with your support. 

Don Juan Coffee Tour: The Most Authentic Coffee Tour

Don Juan Coffee Tour Monteverde takes place at a local farm nearby Santa Elena, located approximately 10 minutes away from Monteverde. The founder, Don Juan, currently in his late 90s, was the first coffee producer in Monteverde around the 1980s. His coffee was so good back then that he started the first coffee tour in the area when Monteverde became a top touristy destination in the early 2000s. 

Eventually, Don Juan Coffee Tour became so popular that the family expanded to Arenal and La Fortuna, opening a coffee tour in that area. And they also added two more products; sugarcane and chocolate. Therefore, what was once known as the Don Juan Coffee Tour, became the Don Juan 3 in 1 Coffee, Chocolate, and Sugar Tour, even though most locals still call it “Don Juan Coffee Tour.”

When you go on the Don Juan Coffee Tour Monteverde, you visit the coffee plantations and the sugarcane plantations. However, there are no cocoa plantations in Monteverde because the weather is too cold to grow this fruit here. Therefore, Don Juan brings the cocoa from his plantation in Arenal and La Fortuna. Consequently, the Chocolate part of the tour only references the production aspect of it. You make chocolate, and you taste the cocoa fruit, which is delicious, but you don’t get to see its plantations. 

On the other hand, you get to see the coffee and sugarcane plantations, so for these two items, you see the end-to-end process, from the plant to the final product. Furthermore, the farm also has other fruit trees planted on the property, bringing a variety of wild animals you can sometimes see during the tour. However, most of these animals are birds, such as beautiful Toucans, not mammals. Plus, spotting animals is an extra, not the primary goal of the Don Juan Coffee Tour. Nonetheless, it’s worth mentioning this aspect as it generally adds more value to Don Juan Coffee Tour. 

Finally, another aspect that makes the Don Juan Coffee Tour different from the rest of the coffee tours in Monteverde is that they are partially “rain-friendly” and 100% accessible for wheelchairs. Most of the presentation is indoors at the factory, producing coffee, chocolate, and sugar. And some trails have roofs to prevent you from getting wet when it rains. Nonetheless, the recommendation is to bring a rain jacket or a poncho, especially if you’re doing the 3 pm tour. 

Don Juan Coffee Tour Summary:

• Duration: 2.5 Hours.
• Tour Times: 8 AM, 10 AM, 1 PM, and 3 PM.
• Coffee, Chocolate, and Sugar Tour.
• Considered The Most Authentic Coffee Tour.
• Prices: Kids* (5-11): $20, Adults: $45.
• No Minimum Age is Required.
• *Kids Below 5 Go For Free
• Reservation Required.
• Get Your Tickets Here.

Cafe de Monteverde Coffee Tour: The Most Specialized Coffee Tour

Unlike the other two Coffee Tours featured in this article, the Cafe de Monteverde Coffee Tour (also known as the Finca Life Coffee Tour) is specialized solely in coffee. You will not learn about or see other production processes such as sugarcane and chocolate. Instead, this tour is exclusively about coffee. 

And that’s what makes the Cafe Monteverde Coffee Tour stand out from the other coffee tours in the area. You learn a ton about coffee production. Cafe Monteverde is the highest producer and exporter of coffee in the region specializing in specialty coffee. Here you will find the best coffee in Monteverde, and you will see the entire production process in great detail. 

Not only is this place the best to find top-quality coffee in Monteverde, but they’re also famous for having excellent environmental practices such as using bicycles as coffee grinders. Another suitable method they show you during the tour is how they use pig’s waste to create biogas, a natural energy-rich gas used by the farm during the production process to reduce the carbon footprint. 

Given the level of specification that goes into this coffee tour, I would recommend it for those who are deeply interested in the topic. Contrarily, I would not recommend it to families with young kids as the little ones would most likely find the vast information provided somewhat overwhelming and possibly even tedious. 

Another exciting aspect of the Cafe Monteverde Coffee Tour at Finca Life is their French-speaking tours. As of the time of writing this article, they are the only coffee tour operator that offers French-speaking tours in the area. However, they only have one person who speaks the language, so they don’t guarantee it. Nonetheless, if you’re a French-speaking tourist deeply interested in the topic of coffee, I would certainly recommend booking your coffee tour here. Chances are, you might get yours in your preferred-speaking language. 

Cafe Monteverde Coffee Tour Summary: 

• Duration: 2 Hours.
• Tour Times: 9:30 am and 2 pm.
• French-Spoken Tour at 8:30 am.
• Specialized Exclusively in Coffee.
• Prices: Kids* (6-12): $30, Adults: $45.
• No Minimum Age is Required.
• *Kids Below 6 pay $15 each. 
• *Not Recommended For Kids.
• Reservation Required.
• Get Your Tickets Here.

El Trapiche Coffee Tour: Family-Friendly Coffee Tour

Situated in Canitas, a small town on the outskirts of Monteverde, about 15 minutes from Monteverde, the El Trapiche Coffee Tour is the best family-friendly coffee tour in the area. Similar to what the Don Juan Coffee Tour offers but presented in a more kid-friendly version, this local sugarcane-producing farm has a fun course to learn about sugarcane, coffee, and chocolate. 

Kids can have a great time making colossal pieces of sugar candy, while adults will appreciate the typical homemade snacks included in the tour. 

El Trapiche is a family-run business whose target market is families with young kids. Therefore, you will learn about these three Costa Rican essential products in this easy-to-digest, convenient tour. And they’ve trained their tour guides to take great care of kids here, making it a must-do activity for families who visit Monteverde. 

El Trapiche Coffee Tour Summary:

• Duration: 2 Hours.
• Coffee, Chocolate, and Sugarcane. 
• Tour Times: 10 am*, 1 pm, and 3 pm. 
• *Not available on Sunday. 
• Prices: Kids (6-12): $20, Adults: $45.
• Kids below 6 Go For Free.
• Most Fun Coffee Tour For Kids.
• No Minimum Age is Required.
• Reservation Required.
• Get Your Tickets Here.

Best Monteverde Coffee Tour Reviews Comparison

The following is a quick quality comparison arranged in descending order according to customer ratings from Google and TripAdvisor historical data as of the time of writing this post.

Best Monteverde Coffee Tour Google Reviews

Best Monteverde Coffee Tour TripAdvisor Reviews

Families with young kids rate El Trapiche significantly higher than Don Juan and Cafe Monteverde. Likewise, adults rate Cafe Monteverde better, except some complain that the tour is too deep and long. On the other hand, Don Juan gets the most positive reviews for having the best value for money. 

Here’s the end of this article. Thank you for reading this far, and feel free to share this info with fellow travelers as you deem appropriate. Happy travels to Monteverde and ¡Pura Vida, amigos!

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About the Author

Daniel Lalinde

I am the founder of MonteTours Costa Rica. I live in Monteverde and love nature, adventure, and Mountain Biking. My partner and I love spending time outdoors and dining in Monteverde. We have more than 30 years of combined experience in the area, and there is no park, coffee shop, or restaurant we haven’t tried at least once!

We love helping visitors and connecting them with the different tours and activities to have a memorable experience in Monteverde.

If you need help planning things to do in the area, send us a message, and we will happily assist you!