Laurie’s daughter Cher has been visiting us from Maine. She stayed in our new suite which overlooks the stream and is just below the jungle suite. Her back porch is right on top of the jungle where our trail goes out to the waterfall swimming hole. She said that sometimes the jungle sounds were so loud (in the evening) that when she called her friends and family back in Maine they would ask her what the sound was, and later could always tell immediately where she was calling from. It isn’t just the coqui’s, of which we have eleven varieties all with distinctive notes to their calls, but also the katydids which harmonize the cacophony. We also enjoy the calls of the night. My favorite is the Puerto Rican screech owl (a pair lives in the tree a short distance away). The screech owl call sounds like a raucous chattering monkey.
Puerto Rico Style Iced Coffee Frappe
Cher said that besides lounging in the new suite and going to the beach with her mom her other favorite activity was going shopping with her and stopping at Starbucks for a frappuccino. Cher decided that she wanted to make one here so she could combine her two favorite things, enjoying a frappuccino and lounging on the back porch with the jungle view. So the first thing she tried is brewing some fine Puerto Rican coffee, adding ice, and mixing it in the blender. It turned out nasty tasting so Cher asked Laurie to help come up with something that tasted like Starbuck’s secret formula. The first thing Laurie tried was some internet searches. She had no luck with that as the recipes didn’t achieve the flavor she was looking for.
Laurie said, “So then I got thinking that those small kioskos in the malls must use ingredients which keep and are easy to deliver and are simple to make. So I knew it couldn’t be fresh milk.” Laurie knew she had to start with strong coffee flavor as the coffee shops had that in abudance. It didn’t take her long to come up with the most delicious frappuccinos.
Her recipe:
Brew fresh coffee or use instant. If you use instant be sure it is an instant made for the Puerto Rican market (most cities have Nestle Puerto Rican style or get someone in Puerto Rico to mail you a couple jars). The Puerto Rican instant coffee is so much better that it makes all the difference. It can even be decaf with very little difference in the flavor. Use 3 3/4 cups cold water and about six slightly heaping teaspoons of Puerto Rico freeze dried instant coffee (or the same amount of chilled fresh-brewed espresso, double strength). Then add one can of sweetened condensed milk. This is the secret ingredient. Put plenty of ice in the blender, pour in some of your liquid and frappe away.
This summer we have been enjoying a tall glass almost every afternoon.
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I can attest to the tastiness of this cold coffee concoction. It is indeed addictive.
I tried to leave a comment earlier, but it must not have appeared. We are thinking about opening an inn and I was wondering what you do about people who are your friends. Do you let them stay there for free? Reduced? Or full price? Or maybe only if they stay with you in your personal quarters?
Do you treat them like a guest in your home or like a hotel guest? Are certain friends and family treated one way and others another way (and how to decide)? When we talk about moving to PR most of our friends have said they want to stay with us (of course!) but if it’s a business how much of that eats into your living wages?
This would be a blog topic I’d really be interested in, or a comment reply would work too!
Smart question you have Cassie. At the rainforest inn we are gradually building all our rental villas so presently our solution is to put visiting family in unfinished units. Our place is pretty big anyway so in the future we plan to have a couple of units just for visiting family and for our volunteer program. The volunteer program has been very successful. We take in anyone interested for a three month volunteer stint. They must submit references and a resume well in advance. They stay for free and we help them see Puerto Rico on weekends. In return for the room and board they work about thirty hours a week doing stuff like tiling, carpentry work and gardening that we teach them while they are here. As we get the last three villas finished we are probably going to switch to looking for volunteers that are interested in learning the bed and breakfast trade.
We look forward to our family visiting and they almost always want to visit during season so it is important that we have extra units built for their use. Our visiting family always does something to contribute while they are here. My sister is an artist and does paintings while she is here (as well as mosaics). Our granddaughter and my wife’s relatives also help with the breakfasts and do office work. Since they are invited guests you really don’t have to worry about family imposing as they really can’t (reservations are made well in advance). Just make sure everyone has a round-trip ticket…
A three month volunteer stint??? I am SO interested
) What is my first move?
Go to our website for volunteers. http://group.ps/rainforestinn – read what other volunteers have said. Send us an email with references and resume as well as why you want to volunteer with us.