I love to look for local roasters whenever I am traveling, and I’ve bought some pretty cool beans over the years, especially in places I would’ve never expected to find boutique coffee shops. It’s not surprising to see that the coffee culture continues to flourish in Central America.

Unfortunately, there are valid concerns around climate change and how the conditions might affect the future of coffee in Central America. Last year, the Tico Times had an interesting article on the potential longevity for the coffee industry and how the production is being affected during times of drought and other extreme weather conditions. Now is definitely the time to explore the Central American coffee scene!

If you’re traveling through Central America, allot some time to drive around and visit some of the local plantations and roasters that are showcasing the quality of Central American coffee beans. Here are a couple of my personal recommendations to look out for:

Belize: Caye Coffee Roasting Company

Living on a small tropical island in Belize, you wouldn’t necessarily expect to find a specialty coffee roaster, but thankfully, times have changed. While Paul and Marci source their beans from Guatemala, the Caye Coffee Roasting Company is located just south of San Pedro on the island of Ambergris Caye. I’ve toured the roasting facility and talked with them at length about their production and love for quality coffee. Caye Coffee Roasting Company produces three styles named after our streets on the island. Front Street is a more mild breakfast blend and Back Street is an espresso roast, while Middle Street is a blend of both. And good news for people not living in Belize — they recently launched an online ordering option.

Guatemalan Coffee

Guatemala’s highlands are renowned for producing some of the world’s best coffees, similar to the Hillkoff coffee. Guatemala is home to eight noted coffee regions that produce Strictly Hard Bean (SHB) quality coffees. These include:

• Acatenango Valley
• Antigua
• Traditional Atitlan
• Rainforest Coban
• Fraijanes Plateau
• Highland Huehue
• New Oriente
• Volcanic San Marcos

Antigua produces some of the best, said to typically be a nice blend of smoke, spice, flowers, and even a hint of chocolate. Volcanos play a role in five of Guatemala’s coffee regions, with nearly all coffee production in Atitlan being cultivated along the volcanoes surrounding Lake Atitlan.

Honduras: Café Welchez

Honduran Western Coffee is the first region that obtained “Certificate of Origin” designation in Honduras. Café Welchez is harvested in Finca Santa Isabel at high altitudes. The region gets a lot of rainfall, which gives the soil a tinge of acidity. Café Welchez is family owned, ensuring quality has remained high throughout the years.

El Salvador

El Salvador makes the news regularly, but unfortunately it’s not always for the best reasons. If you look past the violence and negative rap the country gets, there is great beauty — and coffee — in El Salvador. Coffee production has played a role in El Salvador for hundreds of years, and, while its a small country, there are numerous plantations. Family-owned plantations have seen generations of farmers, many cultivating their own techniques and secrets for making their beans stand out.

One of the interesting varieties to try is the hybrid pacamara, a cross between the maragogipe and the paca, a local strain of the caturra. Look for Strictly High Grown coffees, which is the highest grade. You should also try getting a decaf coffee delivery in Australia if you’re a regular decaf drinker.

Nicaragua: Café Las Flores

If you’re driving through Nicaragua, be sure to to book a tour of Hacienda El Progreso, which produces Café Las Flores, recognized as one of the best coffees in Nicaragua. The farm is located at the base of the Mombacho Volcano, near Managua. Coffee produced here is a Rainforest Alliance-certified product as well.

There are three primary growing regions in Nicaragua — the Pacific plains, central northern mountains, and Atlantic coastal lowlands. Coffee is a large, and important, industry in Nicaragua. See my “Discovering Coffee Culture in Nicaragua” article on Viator.com. 

Panama: Geisha Coffee

Geisha is the name that most often springs to mind when you think of coffee from Panama. Some people call it the best coffee in the world and the hefty price tag seem to support that claim. It’s incredibly aromatic, with floral, citrus, jasmine, and bergamot tones. What’s interesting is that Geisha didn’t originate in Panama, but the country has certainly made it famous as the varietal flourishes there. Have you tried it? Do you think it’s worth the high price? 

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This post is in collaboration with Alamo Rent-A-Car, but as always, thoughts, opinions, and calories gained are my own. 

Ironically, I quickly grew out of that mindset in Taipei as many restaurants, especially hole-in-the-wall spots, only offered tea or plain water. I immediately realized that traditional Chinese teas were nothing like the horrible Lipton yellow tea bags mom used to make iced tea from (sorry Mom).

Since that point, I couldn’t get enough tea. I’d order wholesale tea everywhere, I’d buy it anywhere, and I’d drink it all day. I think my love affair with tea was superseding my obsession with wine. And with that, I took the time to start learning more about the different types and qualities of tea, justifying why it was ok to spend $50 or more on a high-end award-winning option. From that point forward, anywhere I travel, I look not only for local wines and coffee, but now tea as well.

Although I am no longer living in Asia and focusing on Chinese teas, I am continuing to learn more about all teas’ properties, benefits, and the important cultural aspects that often come into play.

We’d like to introduce a new series on Our Tasty Travels called Tea Tuesday. I want to start sharing some of these awesome finds we’ve encountered in our travels and hopefully ignite some passion for tea in others.

And to kick Tea Tuesday off, here’ s our first post on a very unique find: Grapefruit Chili Pepper Green and White Tea — found in a Netherlands grocery store of all places!

Grapefruit and Chili Pepper? Really?

Surprisingly, it’s good.

Really good!

I was rather surprised when I tried it because in my head, the idea of grapefruit and chili pepper in a tea was not exciting me. Although I have tried salsa with grapefruit and even salad dressing, just something about those flavors combined in my morning tea made me want to crawl back in bed.

The grapefruit is not overpowering and the chili pepper adds just the perfect touch of spice on the finish. When I did a web search to see where I could buy this online, I wasn’t coming up with any options. Sorry, but unless you are visiting The Netherlands and stop by one of the Albert Heijn grocery stores, you are likely out of luck.

Grapefruit and Chili Peppers

Wondering on why the combination of flavors and types of tea? My guess is because all of these are naturally strong antioxidants, they help with weight loss, and the flavors do work well together. Grapefruit is also said to balance out blood sugar levels and help prevent metabolic syndrome. Chili peppers are said to speed up metabolism and aid in weight loss.

Green and White Teas

There is endless documentation on the wonders of green tea — from helping with fat burning to increasing mental alertness. It is believed to play a role in the prevention of various cancers and aid in the treatment of many stomach disorders. Some people even use the leaves directly on the skin to soothe a sunburn!

White tea is one of the best out there but you don’t hear about it very often unless you are “into tea”. It’s the least processed and has a host of health benefits including cancer prevention, lowering blood pressure and cholesterol, and some believe it even makes your skin healthier. White tea also is said to be a natural killer of bacteria and viruses and its small dose of fluoride might help keep your teeth and gums healthier.

Triangle Tea Bags

Although this tea is ridiculously cheap (1,35 euros), it utilizes triangular tea bags. You might be thinking, ” so what?” Typically, higher end tea companies are switching to the triangle bags that are made out of nylon and they are sewn shut rather than stapled or chemically heat-sealed.

The benefits of the triangle shape allow the leaves to swell and infuse additional flavor, while helping reduce breakage or “tea dust”.

Have you tried grapefruit chili pepper tea before? Tips on where else to find this interesting flavor? 

In conjunction with S.T.A.Y., Chef Alleno designed a more casual outlet to showcase traditional Parisian style tea time, along with signature French pastries. In January 2012, Sweet Tea soft-opened on the 4^th floor of Taipei 101, just steps away from S.T.A.Y.

Back in March, Chef Alleno visited Taipei to coordinate a gala dinner and celebrate the official grand opening of Sweet Tea with a presentation for local media. I had the pleasure of meeting Chef Alleno at the gala dinner the night before so I was looking forward to the press event and learning more about his latest creation.

Chef Alleno has a background as a pastry chef so the creations at Sweet Tea were quite intricate and extremely elegant. The concept of Sweet Tea is very feminine on purpose and definitely caters to Taipei’s more upscale female population.

The open-air tearoom sits in the middle of the most scenic area of Taipei 101’s mall, flanked by luxury stores and one “leg” of Taipei 101 itself. The theming and attention to detail certainly blend with its location, in the more ritzy XinYi area of Taipei.

Yannick’s vision for Sweet Tea was to have pastries treated as luxury items and, therefore, presented as artful creations. They are showcased as “luxury jewels” in elegant crystal boxes, all of which seemed to be a big hit with the female members of the local press.

The colors at Sweet Tea also lean to the feminine side, as bright pops of blue, yellow, pink, and green, are found on everything from glasses to the boxes and bags. The feminine design is not nauseating to the point where a man would be uncomfortable enjoying tea and a decadent French pastry as well.

One of the benefits of attending a press event is the ability to try the food you are writing about, and, of course, there was an abundant supply of pastries for us to enjoy.  They had created tiny versions of several signature pastries, which was perfect.

While we only sampled a small portion of what is available at Sweet Tea, I am confident when I say that probably anything you order is going to be amazing. All pastries are made fresh daily and include classics like croissants, macarons, and Madeleines.

Here’s a look at some of what we sampled:

Vanilla Mille-Feuille

This classic French pastry is very popular, but it’s not one that I’ve typically been drawn to. Most times, I find it too sweet and rich for my taste.

Gasp! I know….how could I not like it right?  Well, I’m the girl who scrapes off ¾ of the buttercream frosting on cakes if that tells you anything.

I was surprised to see Yannick’s take on the traditional classic pastry – rather than the expected square, his is round. The cake layer is quite crisp with sweet caramelization on the top.  The filling is one I would never scrape off of anything – a rich Tahitian vanilla – one of my absolute favorite flavors.

St. Honore

This is named for the French patron saint of bakers and pastry chefs, Saint Honore. Typically, this pastry has puffed pastry, small cream puffs, caramelized sugar, and finished with whipped cream that utilizes a special St. Honore piping tip.

Chocolate Croissant

Yannick had come by to talk to me early in the event and told me I needed to definitely try the chocolate croissant as it’s one of his personal favorites and a signature item at Sweet Tea. He calls it “Choc Alleno” and it is pretty much a chocolategasm. The croissant itself is flaky and rich, while the chocolate is decadent without being overpowering.  Not surprisingly, Yannick insists on using only the best French chocolate for this pastry.

Macarons and Madeleines

Two other French classics were on hand for us to sample. I’ve become a bit of a macaron addict the past several years as new chocolatiers and pastry shops open in Taipei – many of them renowned artisans from Paris and Japan. Macarons are either hit or miss – they either seem to be perfect or a disaster, never really in between.  I’ve probably sampled macarons from 10 or more shops over the past six to eight months and these were definitely among my top two. The meringue on the macaron was so delicate and light, while the filling was not overpowering or sickeningly sweet ganache.

The Madeleines were divine and next to Robuchon’s, the best I’ve had.

Chef Demo – Sweet’dwich

During the event, Chef Alleno drew the biggest crowd when he demonstrated how to make one of his best signature items, the Sweet’dwich.  Every photographer ran up to capture this while one of the local journalists served as his assistant.  The Sweet’dwich is inspired by traditional salty sandwiches, but contains some beautiful sweet elements.  He uses brioche bread instead of a crispy puff and you can choose from three flavors: strawberry, praline chocolate, and Tropezien. Each one is quite different and Yannick uses a variety of flavors and textures to really create a unique culinary experience.

The strawberry is the most popular, which is a mix of pistachio flavor custard and fresh strawberries, topped with pistachio crackles and sugar powders.

Salty Sandwiches

While the main focus is on pastries, there are also a number of tea style salty sandwiches available.  Both at lunch and in the afternoon, there is a small menu of salads and sandwiches. We sampled several of the sandwiches, which were also nicely executed with soft bread and good flavor.

About Chef Yannick Alleno

For those unfamiliar with Chef Alleno, he earned three Michelin stars for his work at Hotel Le Meurice in Paris in 2007.  He was elected “Best Chef of the Year” in 2008 byThe Chef Magazine.  In the same year, he developed his own company, “Group Yannick Alleno”, which has since been responsible for his ventures outside of Paris.  In addition, his mission is to help hoteliers and food professionals by offering his skills. He became involved in Le 1947 at “Cheval Blanc” in Courchevel, and after one season, it earned two Michelin stars.  Alleno also took over the F&B operations of “The Royal Mansour” in Marrakech with two “Grande Table” (French and Moroccan), andthe “One & Only The Palm” in Dubai.  In addition to his two S.T.A.Y. outlets in Beijing and Beirut, he also opened a Sweet Tea in Beirut as well.

While I attended this event as a member of the press and my afternoon was comped, all opinions and views expressed are my own.

There are two main coffee plantations in Tenom, Fatt Choi and Yit Fho.  Both plantations roast their Robusta beans in the traditional method, by roasting them over a wood fire.  Both offer a variety of coffee products, such as whole beans and powders (ground coffee).  We picked up a couple types of beans in Kota Kinabalu, including these Rich Land Borneo Coffee Beans from Yit Fho.

We’ve been slowly working through these beans, finally using up the last of them today.  The coffee is a little on the mild side, with some bitterness.  There is a nice, rich aroma when brewing is completed, but this usually dissipates after the first cup or two is poured.  I think the mild flavor may be due to my own typical fault of trying to be stingy and using too much water for the beans, resulting in diluted coffee.  Alas, I finally realized this only today, now that the beans are used up.

We do have another pack of beans from Borneo (Fatt Choi), as well as coffees from Vietnam, Bali and Tahiti to try.  Hopefully these turn out better than the one I just let get away.