Café 787
I was super excited about this coffee after reading the story on how the growers started their business. The story is about two folks who loved Puerto Rico and its coffee so much that they purchased land in Maricao, PR, and worked the land to grow their coffee. I’m simplifying this but make no mistake that it must have taken dedication, passion, hard work, love, and hope to make this a reality. Hopefully, one day I get to meet these fine gentlemen and hear it from them directly.
In the meantime, I’ll focus on the coffee I ordered for my tasting. I ordered the coffee directly on their site and believed it was coming directly from Puerto Rico. I waited impatiently for several weeks. Finally, after four follow-up calls, a very nice lady promised me that the coffee would be placed in the truck and even gave me a tracking number to assure me. I told her that she was the first to provide me with a tracking number, so I felt reassured that I would get my coffee this time. After waiting a month, the coffee finally arrived.
Funny enough, on the back of the mailing package, someone wrote in ink, Gracias, Enjoy the freshest cup of coffee you will ever have!
After waiting so long for this coffee, I was tempted to cancel the order several times. However, the story about the growers compelled me to continue calling for the shipping status and not cancel.
I received a 12oz package of Arabica bean shortly after my last conversation with Café 787 staff. The package cover has a beautiful colorful design of Puerto Rican buildings. The beans are small in shape and brown in color. The beans had a hint of sweetness aroma, but there was a more intense chocolatey and sweeter aroma after grinding the beans.
If you love your coffee black, this is the coffee for you. I had it black with sugar, and it was smooth and light with a hint of sweetness. It was not my favorite as a mocha latte. The competing sweetness of the chocolate did not do well with the coffee. However, the Café con Leche (latte) was delicious and enjoyable.
I had this coffee as an espresso, and it has a great fruity, tangy flavor with a bit of a bitter aftertaste. But that doesn’t linger, and my palate found it quite delightful!
Overall, I will rate this café 787 a 4.5 – a great coffee. I recommend this coffee!
If you live in NYC, check out their coffee shops in Manhattan. Café 787 is the only exclusive Puerto Rican coffee shop in NYC. I will be visiting soon!