Mindo Coffee and Cacao Tasting Experience from Quito

We had such a great time and are so grateful for this experience. It was a great way to start our trip here in this amazing country of Ecuador. It is a great value as we spent the day with multiple stops including a reserve with hundreds of hummingbirds, a coffee estate with a tour and tastings as well as a chocolate shop with a tour and tastings. We learned a lot and were fed the whole day with snacks at each stop and an included lunch at a local restaurant. Thank you again to Guillermo driving us and for making this day so memorable.

Our guide Alex, and driver, Daniel, were delightful. The tour was appropriately paced, including a brief stop at the Equator, and a juice/baño/hummingbird stop midway. We learned about - and sampled - the Rumisitana artesanal coffee, which was the most delicious coffee we have ever tasted. Heck, we even drank it black and loooved it! We toured the chocolate making process at Yumbos in Mindo, sampled chocolate, and had a chocolate facial. A totally delightful experience!

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!

Our guide was incredible! He was attentive and gave us lots of local history and information during the drives between locations. The small local coffee and cacao farms were also very informative and the coffee and chocolate were excellent. I am very glad we chose a day to do this tour!

Angel was very good at explaining the history of Ecuador and Quito’s culture. He was very attentive to our questions or requests. Having previously been to both places, he had a great relationship with the staff and owners. We were warmly welcomed.

Angel was awesome and really made it a special day tour. He went out of his way to make it enjoyable and explained each and everything we were looking at. Highly recommend!

I want to thank Takiri Travel for providing new knowledge for me and my husband, allowing us to know the process of coffee and cocoa production! Takiri, thank you so much! It was a renaissance for us!

I first did a trip to the Galapagos Islands with Takiri. I was so impressed that I decided to book this day tour from Quito. It was amaaaazing. We first stopped at this tiny hole in the wall kinda place to check out these cute little hummingbirds flying around while you're having a drink. Then we headed to a coffee farm that was in the most beautiful setting: rolling hills, cloud forest. It's one of those place that you'll see in magazines. We tried different coffee drinks (delicious!) and walked around the farm, seeing the whole process of tree to drink. We even participated in some of these activities. Then we went to a small chocolate farm. The tour was interesting, but omg: we tried so much chocolate (and cacao drink), and even the seeds etc. Understanding the chocolate making process, and tasting it at different stages: I'll never look at it in quite the same way. Totally recommend this tour!!