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Aguada.- Anyone who was fortunate enough to savor a cold guarapo (sugarcane juice) at a roadside stand during a family stroll, surely has nostalgic and unforgettable memories of that moment.

Evoking that sweet experience from childhood or youth was what came to Alex Medina-Bonilla’s mind, when he discovered an old sugar mill—a mill meant to extract juice from a sugar cane—at an uncle’s house.

“I found out that my uncle has a sugar mill and said, ‘dang, why not bring it back? Because there’s no one working with this anymore’ [...],” says the owner of La Guarapera, a business that began in a pick-up truck.

From selling guarapo only on weekends, Medina-Bonilla soon saw that there was room to expand his project. So, he left his regular job as an accountant to fully dedicate himself to his small business. Thus he continued to “lay down roots” until it became the popular locale it is today, on Highway PR-115 in Barrio Asomante, Aguada. In this place, he says, he seeks to keep alive a part of Puerto Rico’s history.

“What people can take with them is a little piece of Puerto Rico, in the town of Aguada. Everyone who comes here remembers the past, the nostalgia... we take them back to it for ten minutes. Truly, it’s an experience,” says the sugar cane farmer with pride, who guarantees a product that is 100% natural.

But that experience at La Guarapera is no longer limited to the traditional sugar cane drink. At the locale there is a variety of typical sweets, natural juices (coconut lemonade is one of their specialties), smoothies, frappés, açaí, fresh coconut and traditional desserts from the area like cazuela and mazamorra, among others. And all produced locally.

“This way we all help each other as Puerto Ricans,” says Medina-Bonilla. He has passed onto his employees the tradition and art of making guarapo: from selecting the cane to managing the sugar mill.

“It’s like connecting with your ancestors. In this environment I have to work with our culture, the same one of our grandparents, who worked with coconuts and sugar cane,” said Sergio Avilés-Sánchez, who has worked at La Guarapera since 2018.

Such has been the success of La Guarapera that it already has a second location in San Sebastián (on PR-11). It will soon open its doors in Aguadilla too. And its owner does not rule out continuing to expand.

“We have to keep Puerto Rico alive, because when a family member comes from the United States, what they come looking for is what we have here, what’s traditional... And here, literally, you have a tiny Puerto Rico in this one corner,” reaffirms Medina-Bonilla.

La Guarapera’s service hours in Aguada are from Monday to Sunday, from 10:30 a.m. to 7:00 p.m., and in San Sebastián from Wednesday to Sunday from 11:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. For more information, you can call (787) 631-9945.