Starbucks aficionados might want to reconsider their next vacation. Today, the coffee giant is opening the doors (and fields) to its 600-acre coffee farm in San Luis, Costa Rica.
Yes, Starbucks doesn t just brew and sell coffee, they also make and research it. The company purchased the Central American property in 2013, and soon built the 46,000-square-foot visitor center, called Hacienda Alsacia, on the grounds, along with a state-of-the-art research center.
Perched on the slope of a volcano, Hacienda Alsacia is offering in-depth coffee tours that show the start-to-finish of the coffee process: everything from seedings, to harvesting, to the wet mill. Visitors will also get to check out the greenhouse, where Starbucks s "hybrid trees"—or, super plants that are resistant to diseases like coffee rust—are grown and tested.
Last but not least, of course, is taste testing. The tour ends—where else?— at a café, where visitors can sip a freshly brewed drink.
Although Starbucks is first and foremost a beverage company, this is just the latest example of their foray into coffee experiences. A few years ago, they opened a Roastery and Tasting Room in Seattle, and just this fall, they announced a de facto coffee amusement park in Shanghai. Soon enough, it seems, everyone will be able to have their Starbucks coffee, and immerse themselves in it too.
