We visited a Colombian coffee farm today and it required three separate buses and a short hike to get to it.
We were the only people there today so we had our guide all to ourselves. A private tour!
We learned alot about the coffee making process. The guide only spoke in Spanish but he spoke very clearly and slowly so we were able to understand a large portion of it. This is what I remember:
- coffee beans can only be picked on the second year and fifth year. In the seventh year, it is cut but leaving the roots in place. The cycle would then repeat itself except this time, the coffee plant will have two new branches growing from the side while leaving the original stub open. - A coffee tree can last 28 years. By the 28th year, the whole thing is removed including the roots. Therefore the cycle mentioned above can be done four times. - Only the red and yellow beans are picked - new coffee trees are nurtured in a special place and planted - The skin of the beans are removed but they are not thrown into the river. because it would contaminate the water. Instead, they are put in a barn and left to furment by a type of worm. Then 5 kilos of the fermented material is placed around each tree as a fertilizer. - The beans are placed in water and somehow the skin gets removed by a machine. - The good beans will then sink in the water while the bad beans will float. This is how the beans are separated - The beans are then dried on top of a oven with only warm heat and a blower. The beans are a mild yellowish color at this point. - Next another machine removes the outter layer of the bean, leaving a grayish inner bean - This is the product that gets exported. Beans are only roasted into the dark black color after arriving at their markets to preserve the aroma. - The bad beans are mixed with some good beans to make instant coffee powder
Seiter our guide and a local Fernandez were wonderful during the tour and was very patient with our limited Spanish. The tour ended with their coffee and some snacks.
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