Utuado and Ciales: Central Mountain Coffee Regions

A highway running between green hills under storm clouds

Carretera PR-10, Utuado, Puerto Rico, on 5 April 2015. Photo: Yarfpr / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0.

Summary

Utuado and Ciales are neighbouring municipalities in Puerto Rico's Cordillera Central, both with long coffee histories. In the nineteenth century Utuado had one of the largest areas of coffee land on the island. It is also home to the Caguana ceremonial ball courts, a US National Historic Landmark. Ciales, founded in 1820, is home to a family-run coffee museum and to a walkway named after the poet Juan Antonio Corretjer, who was born there.

Utuado

An 1887 survey of coffee land, reported by the US War Department, recorded 15,100 cuerdas of coffee in Utuado. At that time Utuado still included Jayuya, which became a separate municipality in 1911. The same survey recorded 4,400 cuerdas for Yauco, less than a third of the Utuado figure.

The Caguana Ceremonial Ball Courts

The Caguana Ceremonial Ball Courts Site, in barrio Caguana of Utuado, is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1993. The National Park Service's records date the site's significance to the period from about 1000 to 1749 AD. Studies commonly date the courts to about 1270 AD. About 13 ball courts and plazas, called bateyes, have been identified, many of them restored, along with stone monoliths carved with petroglyphs. The site is open to visitors as an interpretive park with a small museum.

Ciales

Ciales was founded on June 24, 1820, by Isidro Rodríguez.

The Museo del Café

The Museo del Café de Puerto Rico stands near the town plaza, on the Paseo Aroma de Café. According to Discover Puerto Rico, the island's official tourism organisation, it belongs to a family that has grown coffee for more than 80 years. It is both a museum and a café: the owner gives guided tours explaining the objects used in coffee production, and visitors can taste coffee grown in Ciales.

Discover Puerto Rico also says the museum keeps historic coffee receipts. This encyclopedia has not examined the collection and does not state which documents it holds. For what is documented about Puerto Rican coffee and the Vatican, see Coffee of Kings and Popes.

Roasted coffee beans in a galvanised bin with its lid

Coffee Museum, Ciales, Puerto Rico, on 11 May 2019. Photo: The Eloquent Peasant / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0.

Watch: Don't Skip Ciales | Puerto Rico's Prettiest Secret Town! — Puerto Rico By GPS (PRXGPS)

Paseo Lineal Juan Antonio Corretjer

The Paseo Lineal Juan Antonio Corretjer is a walkway with mountain views, named after one of Puerto Rico's best-known poets. A large bust of Corretjer overlooks the view. Ciales is Corretjer's birthplace, and the town also has a museum about his life and work, Casa Corretjer.

Misty forested hills with buildings in a valley

Ciales, Puerto Rico, view from Paseo Lineal Juan Antonio Corretjer, on 11 May 2019. Photo: The Eloquent Peasant / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0.

A Ciales Coffee Farm

For one Ciales coffee farm and its single-estate coffee, see Café Finca Cialitos.

Coffee Varieties

The rust-resistant varieties Limaní and Frontón, now widely grown in Puerto Rico's coffee zone, arrived on the island from Brazil in 1982. For their history, see Puerto Rico Coffee Renaissance (1950-Present).

Key Facts

Utuado coffee land, 1887: 15,100 cuerdas (Utuado then included Jayuya)
Caguana Ceremonial Ball Courts: National Historic Landmark, 1993; commonly dated to about 1270 AD
Ciales founded: June 24, 1820
Museo del Café: a family-run coffee museum and café near the Ciales plaza
Paseo Lineal Juan Antonio Corretjer: named after the poet, who was born in Ciales

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the Caguana site? A Taíno ceremonial site in Utuado with about 13 ball courts and plazas and petroglyph-carved stones. It is a US National Historic Landmark.

What is the Museo del Café in Ciales? A coffee museum and café near the town plaza, owned by a family that has grown coffee for more than 80 years. The owner gives guided tours.

Was Utuado an important coffee area in the past? Yes. An 1887 survey recorded 15,100 cuerdas of coffee in Utuado, which then included Jayuya.

Sources

1887 survey of coffee land, as reported by the US War Department. Supports: 15,100 cuerdas in Utuado (then including Jayuya); 4,400 cuerdas in Yauco.
Gobierno de Puerto Rico, Oficina de Gerencia y Presupuesto, "Municipios: fundación" (map, after the Enciclopedia de Puerto Rico). Supports: Jayuya founded in 1911; Ciales founded in 1820.
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places, "Caguana Ceremonial Ball Courts Site" (NHL nomination, 1992). Supports: the listing; the periods of significance from about 1000 to 1749 AD.
IAU–ICOMOS Thematic Study on Astronomical Heritage, case study "Caguana, Puerto Rico". Supports: the dating to about 1270 AD; about 13 ball courts; restoration; the interpretive park with a small museum.
Wikipedia, "Caguana Ceremonial Ball Courts Site". Supports: the National Historic Landmark designation in 1993. A tertiary source, used only for that date.
Welcome to Puerto Rico (topuertorico.org), "Ciales". Supports: founding on June 24, 1820, by Isidro Rodríguez.
Discover Puerto Rico, "Things to do in Ciales" and "4 días de inmersión cafetera en Puerto Rico". Supports: the Museo del Café, its location, its owners and tours; the historic receipts; the Paseo Lineal and the bust; Ciales as Corretjer's birthplace and Casa Corretjer. Tourism material.
Badillo-Chico, Paola N., M.S. thesis, University of Puerto Rico at Mayagüez, 2021. Supports: Limaní and Frontón arriving from Brazil in 1982.

Claims this encyclopedia could not source

The following statements appear in published material about Utuado and Ciales. This encyclopedia could not trace them to a reliable source:

That Utuado covers about 202 square kilometres and Ciales about 172. (Other references give larger figures for Utuado.)
That Limaní and Frontón were released to farmers in the 1990s. (Documented sources date their arrival to 1982.)
That many people of Utuado carry Taíno genetic heritage.
That the coffee soils of Utuado and Ciales are of volcanic origin.
That Caguana is one of the Caribbean's most important Taíno archaeological sites.
That central mountain coffees are softer and more chocolate-toned than Yauco's more citrus-forward coffees.
That Utuado was a priority area for federal and philanthropic aid after Hurricane Fiona, and that the coffee shop at the Museo del Café keeps farm animals.

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