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Culebra.- Traveling and tasting coffee grown around the world, and then sharing their experiences with their customers at Blac Flamingo Coffee, in Culebra, is part of the successful formula concocted by this coffee shop’s owners, Ariel Vázquez Cotto and Natashia Artz López.

The Puerto Rican couple offers visitors the experience of “traveling” through their palates, with the variety of coffees served in their shop.

“We like exotic coffee and we are dedicated to finding the best coffees from anywhere in the world. If there’s a new coffee, I do everything I can to bring it here, so that people can experience tasting it,” explained Vázquez Cotto.

The business owners have received coffee beans from Ethiopia, as well as from Latin American countries such as Colombia, Peru, Ecuador, Costa Rica, and Guatemala.

“(Customers) come, they open the door and ask me: ‘Ariel, what’s today’s coffee? Where is it from?’ And I said: ‘well, today we have Guatemala, we have Ethiopia’. We have an exclusive coffee that is a blend of Ethiopia-Africa with Guatemala”, said Vázquez Cotto.

The culebrense assured that the secret behind good coffee is that the first cup gets you to have a second one. That, he said, is when you know the coffee is good. “I have customers here that can drink two or three cups in a short while, just sitting there, and that’s what I’m trying to do here, to make people feel comfortable,” he said.

For 16 years, Vázquez Cotto and Artz López ventured into establishing several businesses in Texas, including a hair salon; surprisingly, none of them related to the coffee industry.

However, their love for the drink and their family ties to the island led them to make a drastic change: to move to “La Isla Chiquita”.

“My grandfather passed away at 95, but before he passed, I came from the States and I promised him I’d revive the coffee industry, because it’s something we both loved. And so, we arrived right after (hurricane) María. We sold our previous business and we opened Blac Flamingo on July 2, 2018″, said Vázquez Cotto, who is also a stylist.

Since establishing their coffee shop four years ago, the couple has had the clear objective of providing a first class experience, from the personalized attention to each customer to the fresh products offered.

“Quality always comes over quantity. We prefer to have a small, but high quality selection,” said Artz Lopez.

In addition to the variety of international coffees available, they prepare refreshing drinks such as shakerato iced coffee, mocha latte and espresso tonic, ginger lemonade and strawberry lemonade, and orange and aloe vera juices.

Breakfasts include typical options, such as oatmeal, yogurt, fresh fruit, pastries distributed by El Horno de Pane, French toast, avocado toast, as well as a variety of sandwiches such as the chicken club, and the house special sandwich with a unique touch: the secret sauce that the Artz Lopez family has preserved for more than six generations.

This cozy coffee shop offers a comfortable, relaxed atmosphere in the island town of Culebra.

“Our goal is to sell our own coffee. Blac Flamingo is supposed to be Blac Flamingo Coffee Roaster, but the pandemic changed everything, and it stayed as Blac Flamingo Coffee. However, we’re working on cultivating our own Puerto Rican coffee, which doesn’t really get the love it deserves. We want to bring the best coffee seeds in the world, plant them in Puerto Rico, and grow a great product. This is our goal, and we’re going to achieve it,” said the owner about his expectations, which he hopes to fulfill in Jayuya, where he is originally from.

The shop operates Thursday through Monday from 7:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. You can find them on Facebook and Instagram as Blac Flamingo Coffee.