Costa Rica Chorreador: How to Brew Coffee the Tico Way

A chorreador is Costa Rica’s traditional coffee maker: a small wooden stand that holds a cloth filter, called a bolsita, over a cup or pot. To use one, put about 10 to 15 grams of medium-fine coffee (roughly 2 tablespoons) in the bolsita for each 6- to 8-ounce cup, wet the grounds and wait 30 seconds, then pour the rest of the hot water slowly and let it drip through. Rinse the cloth with hot water afterward, never soap, and it will last for months.

This guide to the Costa Rica chorreador is for visitors who want to brew coffee the Tico way at home, or buy a chorreador to take back. It covers how the brewer works, a step-by-step method, how to care for the cloth filter, how it compares with other brewers, its history and where to buy one in Costa Rica.

Costa Rica chorreador	At a glance
What it is	Wooden stand plus a reusable cotton filter (bolsita)
Coffee	10–15 g per 6–8 oz (180–250 ml) cup, about 1:16
Grind	Medium to medium-fine, like table salt
Water	Just off the boil, 195–205°F (90–96°C)
Filter care	Rinse with hot water, no soap; scrub with salt about once a month
Taste	Cleaner than a French press, fuller than paper pour-over
Where to buy	Market coffee stalls, souvenir shops, Sarchí craft shops

The basics

What Is a Chorreador?

The name comes from the Spanish verb chorrear, to drip or trickle, which is exactly what the coffee does. Ticos call the result café chorreado. The brewer has three parts:

• The stand (chorreador): usually wood, with a base for the cup or pot and an arm or ring at the top.
• The bolsita: an elongated cotton bag, often described as a coffee sock, that holds the grounds.
• The rim and handle: a wire or wooden ring that keeps the bag open and hangs it from the stand.

There’s no paper, no plastic and no electricity. That’s a big part of why the chorreador still sits in many Costa Rican kitchens next to an electric coffee maker, and why so many visitors take one home. For background on the beans themselves, see our guide to Costa Rican coffee regions and flavors.

Brewing

How to Use a Chorreador: Step by Step

This method makes one or two cups. Scale the coffee and water together for a larger pot.

1. Heat the water. Bring it to a boil, then let it sit briefly so it’s just off the boil, about 195–205°F (90–96°C).
2. Set up the stand. Put your cup or pot on the base and hang the bolsita from the top so it sits inside the mouth of the container.
3. Add the coffee. Use 10 to 15 grams (about 1½ to 2 tablespoons) of medium-fine ground coffee per 6- to 8-ounce cup.
4. Bloom the grounds. Pour in just enough water to wet all the coffee and wait about 30 seconds. Fresh coffee will puff up as it releases gas.
5. Pour slowly. Add the rest of the water in small amounts, keeping the grounds covered without overflowing the bag. Some Tico cooks stir the grounds gently with a spoon as they go.
6. Let it drip. Wait until the dripping stops, then lift the bolsita off and serve.
7. Clean up. Empty the grounds (they’re good for compost) and rinse the bag under hot water.

Better coffee

Tips for a Better Cup of Café Chorreado

• Adjust the grind before the ratio. If the coffee tastes thin or sour, grind finer. If it tastes harsh or drips very slowly, grind coarser.
• Use fresh beans. Whole beans ground just before brewing make the biggest difference. Costa Rican coffee is almost all arabica and is usually sold by region, such as Tarrazú, West Valley or Tres Ríos.
• Mind the water. Coffee is mostly water, so if your tap water tastes off, use filtered. In Costa Rica, see our guide to where the tap water is safe.
• Keep a spare bolsita. If you brew every day, rotate two so each one dries fully between uses.
• Serve it the Tico way. Café chorreado goes with breakfast, often gallo pinto, and again in the afternoon. Our tips for brewing Costa Rican coffee at home cover other methods.

Care

How to Clean and Care for the Cloth Filter

The bolsita is the part that needs attention. Treat it well and it will last many months.

• Never use soap or detergent. Cotton absorbs it, and you’ll taste it in the next pot.
• Rinse right after brewing. Turn the bag inside out if needed, rinse out every ground with hot water and hang it to dry.
• Scrub with salt about once a month. Rub coarse salt into the cloth to lift built-up coffee oils, then rinse thoroughly.
• Don’t worry about the color. The cotton turns brown within a few uses. The stain doesn’t affect the taste.
• Replace it when it smells stale or won’t rinse clean. Replacement bags are cheap and sold wherever chorreadores are.

Compare

Chorreador vs. Pour-Over and French Press

The chorreador is a pour-over brewer with a cloth filter. The cloth lets through more of the coffee’s oils than paper, so the cup has more body, but it traps the fine sediment that a French press leaves behind.

Brewer	How it works	Cup
Chorreador	Hot water drips through grounds in a cotton bag	Clean, medium body, no sediment
Paper pour-over	Hot water drips through grounds in a paper filter	Very clean, lighter body
French press	Grounds steep in water, then a metal mesh presses them down	Heavy body, some sediment
Electric drip	Machine heats water and drips it through a filter	Convenient, less control

The trade-off is upkeep. Paper filters go in the trash, while a cotton bag needs rinsing and drying. In return, you never run out of filters.

History

A Short History of the Chorreador in Costa Rica

Coffee arrived in Costa Rica in the late 1700s and grew so well in the Central Valley that it was the country’s main export by the 1840s. Coffee money paid for roads, ports and much of 19th-century San José. See how San José became the capital for more of that story.

No one has a reliable date for the first chorreador. It’s simply been part of Costa Rican homes for generations, and families still pass stands down. Costa Rica also didn’t invent cloth-filter coffee. Similar cloth strainers, often called coladores, are still common in Venezuela and Colombia, and Cubans call coffee made this way café carretero.

What’s distinctly Costa Rican is the wooden stand and how closely it’s tied to daily life. In January 2020, the Legislative Assembly declared coffee itself a national symbol. The chorreador has no official designation of its own, but it’s the object most people picture when they think of a Tico cup.

Shopping

Where to Buy a Chorreador in Costa Rica

• San José’s Mercado Central: coffee stalls sell stands, bolsitas and freshly roasted beans in one stop. See our Central Market visitor guide.
• Sarchí: the oxcart-painting town is the place for chorreadores decorated in the same bright patterns. Our guide to Costa Rica’s ox carts explains the painting tradition.
• Souvenir and craft shops: you’ll find them across the country, from tourist towns to the airport. See our list of the best Costa Rica souvenirs.
• Farmers markets: local roasters at weekend ferias are a good source of beans to go with your new brewer. See our farmers market guide.

Hand-painted chorreadores have become a gift in their own right. In 2026, a Costa Rican journalist gave Pope Leo XIV one designed by a Monteverde studio and painted by a Sarchí oxcart artist.

If you want to try it before your trip, a stand, a spare bolsita and a bag of Costa Rican beans are all you need.

Taste it

Where to Try Café Chorreado

Small family restaurants called sodas, rural lodges and some farm tours serve coffee from a chorreador. A Costa Rica coffee tour shows the whole process, from picking to roasting to the cup. In towns, our Costa Rica cafe finder helps you track down local coffee shops, and our list of coffee culture mistakes covers ordering and etiquette.

FAQ

Costa Rica Chorreador: FAQ