Costa Rica

Cacique. The Tico water!

Oh how I love thee Costa Rica. The ocean, the scenery, the iguanas, the monkeys, and especially the sloth. I don’t even know exactly how to describe cacique. If tequila and vodka had a baby and it was made out of sugar but was not a rum it would be cacique.

A lot of what we drink in Costa Rica actually consists of Nicaraguan beer. Mainly because the Nicaraguans really know how to make a good beer and the Costa Rican beer is not very good or prominent. Most of the time they drink beer from other countries such as Panama or Mexico. What the Costa Ricans really know how to do is make guaro. Thus cacique was born.

Years ago Costa Rica wasn’t nearly as touristy as it is now. Now that a lot of Americans frequent there they have decided to start making bloody marys with vodka. They’re traditional chiliguaro made with a red juice typically made from tomato similar to V8, hot sauce and pepper, a lime and then add cacique. They put it into a pitcher and you are given shots of this drink. It is smooth and it is very dangerously good.

*Chiliguaro! The Costa Rican answer to morning brunch*

Those Ticos know what they’re doing.

CEVICHE!

Fresh ceviche! You can find this dish all over the country. It is a huge staple for any diner, cafe or restaurant here, and the tourists love it. We tried a few different places, and on the main drag the prices were high, yet the flavor was low. The best place we found was a small dive, run by Jose in a small stretch of buildings just past Jaco.

Make your way past Jaco at the Hermosa beach. If you blink you will miss the El Palmerino. You MUST try his ceviche. He adds just the right amount of onion and spices to the dish and allows it to sit.

The wedding group frequented so often that Jose had to hire 2 new people to man the bar just for the few days we bombarded his establishment. He was very friendly and always catered to our needs. The DJ… well, they don’t alwasy understand when the sounds between songs is necessary. He did find “Zombies” so we could sing some karaoke.

Get the fish, drink his cacique, and sing some karaoke.

Jose will take good care of you. The beach behind the bar has black sand, so don’t burn your feet and only venture out once the sun goes down. You can see iguana and crabs all over the place. Definitely a great and safe place to rest and relax.

Bar y Restaurante Palmareños, Puntarenas Province, Playa Hermosa, Costa Rica

https://goo.gl/maps/Cpfkiroao1n

This Bre had to visit that Bri

Local east coast brewery, had some unique flavor combinations. We got a bloody and a flight of beers as a back. Not too shabby, and an interesting name for a brewery so far from home.