on my plantation in the mountains of Costa Rica for 15 years. Full process from starting the seeds in "un almacigo", caring for the young plants in "un invernadero", then cutting them out of the ground with rootball/ "terron" of soil intact. Once planted in the rows, the coffee took 3 years to produce the first crop. I would hire the local women of the town and we would harvest, at the best harvest ever 1500 lbs. of organic coffee grown at 1200 meters. The bags would be carried by me down to the "ranchito", 45 kilos each bag. The processing of the coffee takes weeks in all, from "chanclado", the removal of the outer fruit layer or "bellota", the transport from the chancladora was always great fun, me and a worker smelling like coffee honey/"miel" from the bags soaking wet with miel. We would lay the coffee out on screen bottom tables and on tarps in the sun for 3-4 weeks, turning the beans with large spoons "paletas" and when the skin, "el pergamino" was dry and almost starting to separate from the bean, we would run the beans through a mill to remove the pergamino. The coffee then drys in the sun for another 2-3 weeks, darkening the lovely grey green beans to a jade-like color. After they are dark and dry, the time comes to roast the beans, over an open fire under the blue sky. In a large kettle, we would pour about a half gallon of beans at a time and stir them for around 15 to 20 minutes with the paleta. I learned from my teacher, a man who ran a 40 hectare plantation in his middle age, exactly what the best roast was for the arabigo/arabica beans we grew. The color and flavor for each type of roast are a matter of art and not science. Roasting machines do not produce the flavor of the seasoned nose and eye. When all the roasting process for a portion of the harvest, usually a small 35 kilos/ 77 lbs. was completed, we would bag the coffee, whole beans, apply our label, seal the bags and go to the farmers market to sell the already sold coffee to our loyal customers. When Ticos tell you that your coffee is "del mejor que he tomado", it is quite a compliment. Considering the prices of artesanal coffee in the shops and supermarkets, we sold a superior product at a great price and never had enough to satisfy all the way to years end. My story of my life as the grower of "Siete Perros Cafe Organico" in Tierras Morenas de Tilaran, Guanacaste. I would never have given it up. However, my beloved wife was taken by leukemia (discovered too late. *Please pay attention to bruising and claims of headaches.I wish I had understood...) and with my most Herculean efforts, I could not continue. I sold to a group from LA who have not impressed me with their understanding of coffee. They do not know soil or nuances of flavor or event he art of roasting. So I now drink the excellent coffee that my main competitor, Ma'coNilo (Cafe SyM), grows and roasts. I have moved on to a new life with a wonderful friend who would often buy our coffee fro us at the market. My coffee story, thanks for reading it. Blessings on all and it is the little things that make coffee such a treat. I am honored to have had the life.
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