Description
Monkeys Coffee and Cacao Workshop established within the Monkey's Restaurant facilities, is an attractive and innovative tourist proposal in the city of Matagalpa. The workshop dedicates to processing coffee in an artisanal way and offers the “Coffee & Cacaco Workshop Tours” where nationals and foreign visitants can learn and participate in the coffee elaboration process. Also, the activity includes the cacao tour.
Just in front a corner of the central park or Morazán park is located the Monkey's Restaurant and in one particular place of its interior the workshop is found. Visitants can distinguished the processing area for the old and modern machines used for work and activities. Each day the shop works in the morning and afternoon to produce about 50 pounds of coffee. The process starts with the reception of coffee parchment beans which later are threshed, toasted, grind, packed, labeled and finally distributed to diverse clients.
The Coffee and Cacao Workshop born as a proposal to involve tourist in this process and show them personally how the coffee is made. Each session lasts 2 hours where participants toast, grind and pack the coffee that will take as a souvenir. Besides, they will learn tasting techniques to identify scents and flavors of different exposed coffees. The last procedure is to prepare a cup of coffee for the participants.
Later the cacao phase begins with an explanation about how the chocolate is obtained. During the session, interesting facts are given with visual and audiovisual materials to offer a true connection with the coffee and cacao environment.
Some practical information about the activity so you can participate:
- Available days: From Tuesday to Sunday, each week.
- Sessions Schedule: 10 AM to 12 PM and 5 PM to 7 PM
- Rates: Nationals US$12 – Foreign US$18
Matagalpa, as a city and region, has a strong coffee tradition and culture in Nicaragua. For this reason, the production workshop and the interactive offer to the public are a tourist attraction of great interest and will work out as an amazing experience for national and foreign tourists.
Getting There
Is easy to get to the workshop due to its location in the center of the city, within the Monkey's Restaurant facilities. Once you are at Matagalpa, search for the Morazán park (in front of the cathedral) and in the south – east corner locate the two floor building with a rustic front. You can get there in cab or even walking.
From another zone of the country, the first thing to do is reach the city of Matagalpa. You can go to any of the principal buses terminals in Managua, León, Estelí or Jinotega (depending on your location). In Managua, you can go to El Mayoreo bus terminal and catch a public transport to Matagalpa.
Comments
Jonathan wrote on Feb 28, 2016:
The restaurant is in very poor shape. Bad management....and bad service. Not recommended.