Four years and a few credits shy of diplomas, we fell victims to wander lust and traveled to Costa Rica during the summers of ‘92 and ‘93 to experience the culture and learn the language of this small Central American country.

We quickly fell in love with the land and its people and decided to make it our home. Settling in the tiny, Pacific community of Quepos, it didn’t take long for Adrienne to realize she couldn’t find a decent cup of coffee. Ironically, Costa Rica produces some of the world’s finest beans, but as a developing country, its best coffee is exported. The export beans are selected from each harvest and the rejects are left for local consumption. In search of a good cup of joe, the idea of Café Milagro was born. Adrienne began to ask around and the general consensus among the international travelers was that the coffee of Costa Rica was "surprisingly disappointing." Researching the coffee market further, she found the only way to get her hands on some quality beans was to become a coffee roaster herself.

With the help of family and friends and the generous credit card limits afforded to promising young college students, Adrienne scraped together enough cash to buy a coffee roaster. The manufacturer gave her a 1/2 day crash course on how to operate the intimidating apparatus and she bought herself some books on the art of roasting.

Meanwhile, back in Wisconsin, trying to re-adapt to a life without "gallo pinto" (rice and beans), I received a postcard from my old salsa partner on the beach announcing her grand scheme. I recalled the seemingly endless variety of coffees on the shelves of every neighborhood "pulpería" (Costa Rican markets) and thought the idea of yet another coffee company was simply ridiculous. Why on earth would anyone buy her coffee? To make a long story short, after tasting Café Milagro, I enthusiastically became a partner in Adrienne’s "ridiculous" venture and I haven’t been able to enjoy another coffee since.

Café Milagro opened its doors as a coffee roasting company in December of ‘94. It was pure and simple; a small "bodega" or warehouse-like space with 100lb burlap sacks of green coffee lining the walls and a big red roaster in the back. Customers could buy a kilo to go or sit on a sack of beans while they enjoyed a cup of the day’s freshest roast.

Never one to let the glass ceiling get in her way, Adrienne took on the challenge of running a business in a male-dominated society without giving it a second thought. Along the way she ran across more than a few macho men who tried to take advantage of the "naive, young gringa". They would show her samples of beautiful green beans and later send her sacks of poor quality "coffee" that sometimes included rocks and nails. Through a lot of trial and error, Adrienne and I have become knowledgeable coffee cuppers, capable of detecting and rejecting imperfections.  We taste the bad coffee so you don’t have to!

In the early days of Café Milagro, it was Adrienne’s personality and popularity in the community as much as anything that kept the business afloat. Curious about the billows of smoke rolling out of the door and window, locals would come by to chat and to find out what she was up to. Eventually it became a gathering place for people to build up their strength with a cup of strong coffee before confronting the infamous, Costa Rican, bank lines around the corner from her shop. About six months into the venture, Café Milagro grew from a coffee roasting company into a coffee shop with the advent of tables and chairs. A local woman and a small bakery supplied the pastries and the beverage menú consisted of "café" and "café con leche" (coffee and coffee with milk).

Until recently , Adrienne and I  were  the only ones who dare to touch the archaic, locally made one-of-a-kind coffee roaster.   Randall "Cocho" Rojas has just graduated to head roaster after many years as Lance's trusty assistant.  You can catch Cocho roasting when he's not catching waves  across the street.  Adrienne, Randall and I have developed a Zen-like relationship with our contraption over the years. While most roasting today involves programmable, digital technology, we rely on human senses to craft a rich, dark roast, and a smooth and lively light roast of high altitude, arábica beans from the famous Tarrazú and Tres Ríos regions of Costa Rica.

Friends and family and a few extra-persistent Café Milagro lovers have been receiving small packages of freshly roasted coffee ever since Adrienne opened her doors. Now with the advent of our online store, anyone can enjoy Cafe Milagro anytime. We're excited to share our version of paradise with coffee aficionados around the world!