Rick's Coffee

This trip to Placencia, Belize was of huge significance to my wife Candy and I. You see…..we have done a lot of research regarding moving abroad and had narrowed down our search to 2 cities in Belize.

The first city was the city of San Pedro located on Belize’s largest Island “Ambergris Caye.” Little trivia here…This is the island Madonna wrote the song  “La Isla Bonita” about! And you thought San Pedro was a man she was dreaming about! Well after spending  a week in San Pedro I realized it was not where I wanted to move to. For us, it was too busy with all of the golf cart traffic and the smell of exhaust was really bad!

Next…our arrival to Placencia. As the one propeller “puddle jumper” Cesna 208 Caravan approached the tiny runway with a little river to the right and the Caribbean Sea within view I knew I was in Placencia Heaven. Everything is green and lush and vibrant with life! As we exited the plane we could hear a symphony of songbirds that I have never heard before. (Click picture to enlarge)

Placencia is often referred to as the “island you can drive to.” It is a 16 mile peninsula located about 140 miles south of Belize City. Along this peninsula you will also find the communities of Maya Beach and Seine Bight. Placencia Village itself, boasts the narrowest main street in the world and is in the Guinness World Book of Records!

I could not get over how beautiful and charming this little fishing village was.  This was truly the place for me and thank goodness my wife Candy was in love with Placencia too! The diving and snorkeling scene here is world class too! In April thru May you can experience being humbled with the arrival of the magnificent Whale Shark! Then in June is the Lobster Festival! (Click picture to enlarge)

Ok, now here is what really matters, right…? Is there great coffee in Placencia Belize?? The answer is an empathetic YES!!!!!

There were two places serving fresh roasted coffee- 1. Above Grounds Coffee and 2. Brewed Awakenings.

Here are my thoughts- The place that has a more fresh roasted deep rich  flavorful Arabica bean is Above Grounds Coffee.

The  reason the coffee is better at Above Grounds Coffee is because of the type of bean being served. The owner Keith explained the legal red tape to import green beans to roast there in Belize is not worth the time and money so instead every 11-14 days he picks up new  batches of freshly roasted coffee from small independent producers from neighboring  Guatemala. On the contrary, the owner of Brewed Awakenings, avoids the red tape by roasting locally grown Belizean coffee which grows at much lower elevations,which is why it cannot develop the same flavors as a high elevation coffee like Guatemala can. (see chart below-(Click picture to enlarge))

I was lucky enough to meet Keith of Above Grounds Coffee (https://www.facebook.com/AboveGroundsCoffee) who moved to Placencia from Scotland and opened this great specialty coffee house. He is truly a great person and his Guatemalan coffee makes your taste buds dance with those tropical fruit tones, sweet acidity, clean and balanced with a dry malty, almost chocolate finish. Thank you again for that amazing shot of expresso Keith! (Click pictures to enlarge)

                                     

Besides my beloved coffee, my amazing wife’s and I next favorite to drink and enjoy is a smoothie or shake or any cold, healthy, yummy goodness. And the runner up to best coffee in Placencia  is “Brewed Awakenings.”It’s the #1 spot for frozen shakes and smoothies.  They have “Out of this World” Seaweed shakes! They are truly a “must enjoy” while in Placencia. Check them out on facebook! (https://www.facebook.com/brewed.awakenings.7?fref=ts)  (Click pictures to enlarge)

          

We had a great time in Placencia and plan on moving there in July of this year! So reach out and come visit! My next blog will be all about the eating scene in Placencia! Until then, much love, be well and remember “Life is too short to drink bad coffee!”  (Click picture to enlarge)