Coffee & Cacao Private Experience from Quito

Incredible tour and worth every penny! Our guide, Alex, was such a knowledgable and fun guide and made the experience so enjoyable. After 5 months of travelling, we can easily say this tour is one of the favourites we’ve done. We loved how authentic and community-focused it was, and how Takiri pick the coffee and chocolate locations carefully, so you get the chance to support local businesses as well as stuffing your face with delicious chocolate and coffee. Thank you so much again for the experience, hopefully we will be back one day!

Our day trip out of Quito to visit the cloud forest, a hummingbird center, an organic coffee farm, and a cacao farm was spectacular! The trip was carefully and thoughtfully planned, and our driver/guide Abel was warm, knowledgeable, kind, and witty. We loved it!

Telmo did a great job driving and even translating a little for us on this multi-stop excursion. First we stopped for some juice at Los Armadillos and watched the many different hummingbirds, which was fascinating. I’ve never seen that many different colors and sizes! Then we went to Frajares for a coffee demo, tasting, and tour. Maria Fuentes (?) was an excellent guide, and even though she only spoke Spanish and we knew very little Spanish, she made sure we understood everything and answered our questions (sometimes with Telmo’s help translating). She was very organized and knowledgeable, and also very personable, which made this tour very enjoyable. Our last stop was El Quetzal for chocolate tour, tasting, and lunch. Carolina was our guide, and again, was very organized, knowledgeable, and personable, and she gave us plenty of different types of chocolates to try and explained what we would taste and feel (in terms of texture) for each… and sometimes she’s let us taste first and tell her what we experienced. Very interesting learning about the differences between the Ecuadorian Nacional and CCN51 types of cacao. The lunch was also delicious, with a perfect brownie for dessert! Our al fresco dining experience with some amusing colorful birds in the trees nearby was a perfect way to end our last stop. Telmo then transported us safely back to our hotel, giving us tidbits along the way. Excellent excursion that we would do again and again!