Galapagos Coffee

Located in the center of an extinct volcano at an elevation of 1,350 feet above sea level in the middle of the Pacific Ocean is a place known as El Junco Lagoon. El Junco is a unique area with mineral rich spring water and is the only permanent fresh water lake in the Galapagos. Many visitors to the Galapagos Islands visit here to see the many birds that come to the lake to bathe in the fresh water and the exotic plants that encircle the shores. The waters, the rich volcanic soil and the cool air brought by the Humboldt Current coming from the south create a misty microclimate, which is ideal for growing coffee.

Though many people who have heard of Galapagos Coffee think it is a relative new endeavor, the production of coffee in this area dates back over 100 years.  Back in 1879 a man named Manuel Cobos came to San Cristobal to make his fortune.  He created a Hacienda called El Progresso and petitioned the government for a steady supply of prisoners to work as slave labor taming this rugged land. Cobos was a man of many dreams he used the labors to harvest sugar cane, process meat from turtles and cattle, they built a railroad, a fishing endeavor and in an area of the Hacienda called El Cafetel they planted Arabica Bourbon Beans and Galapagos Coffee was created.

Though his designs for the island changed forever it’s future, Cobos tyrannical treatment of the workers would be his undoing.  During a revolt in 1904 he was murdered and the laborers fled the island abandoning the hacienda and other endeavors.

Galapagos Coffee’s was revived in the 1990’s.  The Gonzales Family who purchased the Hacienda and discovered though the coffee had been ignored over all these years the plants continued to thrive.  When they collected some of the beans the discovered they produced a medium bodied coffee with layers of tobacco and leather, there is a slight citrusy flavor an aroma of sweet caramel.  Today Galapagos Coffee is a certified organic and environmentally friendly coffee produced in conjunction with the local people and sold in specialty coffee stores worldwide.