One of Costa Rica's most popular exports is cocoa beans – and there are several reasons why so many visitors come back from their vacations with bags full of this delectable treat!
On this tour, we were able to see the plants, the fermentation process, and a small bit of the drying and roasting. Then we watched them grind up the beans and made it into a delicious cocoa powder.
They try to keep the cocoa plants small. The reason they do this is that it won't require ladders to pick the pods off the branches.
This is done outside under the sunshine. Once they are dry, is when you really start to see what a cocoa bean looks and smells like.
At this time, they had a small stove where they roasted some beans for the tourists to try. Once roasted they are a little softer and you can easily break them with your hand.