The Bittersweet Taste of Finca Kobo Chocolate
Highlights
- Eat raw cocoa
- Learn about sustainable farms
Facts
- Time : 9 a.m. and 2 p.m., 7 days a week
- Time length : 2 hours
- What to bring : Insect repellent, sturdy shoes, long pants to protect from biting ants
- Price : $32 per person
- Location : 10.5 miles (about 30 minutes) north of Puerto Jiménez in Palo Seco.
While images of Willy Wonka's chocolate factory may flood the mind when you hear the words "chocolate tour", Finca Kobo gives you the humbling experience of how cocoa is actually made.
read more closeWith up to 50 beans in each cocoa fruit, it takes an average of five cocoa fruit, which is a total of 250 beans, to produce 100 grams of chocolate. You will not only learn about the production of cocoa, but you will also get to taste it in its rawest form.
Bittersweet is how you may feel, if you came here only expecting chocolate. The first half of the Finca Kobo Chocolate tour is based on sustainable production, so a healthy interest in farming and biodiversity will help make your experience more enjoyable. You may get to see, smell and taste pineapples, bananas, sugar cane, noni, lemon grass, limes, lemandarin fruit, soursop, sweet lemon, star fruit, coffee, vanilla, cinnamon, annatto, or whichever fruit happens to be in season when you go.
As you roam around the farm, you look up and see towering scarecrows straight out of Alice in Wonderland, placed there to repel the birds that eat the fruits. Even with its other challenges like insects and fungus, Finca Kobo puts in an honest effort to promote a natural way of farming.
Unlike other countries, Costa Rica produces crops year-round, making its relationship with nature very important. The attunement of humans, animals and food production is clearly recognized by the farmers as they call the bats and monkeys the “guardians” of the forest for their assistance in spreading the seeds throughout the land.
After the tasty tour is over, sit in the open air dining area, immerse fresh slices of square, criollo, and apple bananas into a creamy organic chocolate dip, and then enjoy a heavy slice of chocolate cake. Just make sure you say "muchas gracias" afterwards, as you will surely know by then how much work it takes to produce this food.
Departure & Return
- Departure point : Tour departs from all major hotels in Puerto Jimenez and Matapalo
- Departure time : Hotel pickup is between 20 and 50 minutes before tour start time depending on hotel location
- Return details : Tour returns to original departure point between three and four hours after tour start time